(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-29 14:49

SHENZHEN - Zheng Shangjin, previously chief of Zhejiang Provincial Food and Drug Bureau, has been convicted of taking bribes and sentenced to four years in prison.

Zheng, 61, also had his Audi limo confiscated, according to the ruling of Yantian District Court in Shenzhen City, South China's Guangdong Province, following a trial held on August 21.

Zheng Shangjin, who was appointed as chief of Zhejiang  Provincial Food and Drug Bureau in 2002 and removed from his post last October, once arranged a meeting between Tang Xudong, president of Kangliyuan Group, his brother Tang Xiaodong and Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), when the former SFDA chief was in Zhejiang to attend a local fair.

He also used his influence to obtain other benefits for the company, according to the court.

The court was told that in July 2003, the Tang brothers agreed to give 100,000 yuan to Zheng Shangjin's son-in-law as a startup fund for him to do business. His son-in-law later informed Zheng of this, but Zheng didn't voice any opposition.

Zheng Shangjin and Tang Xiaodong reached a deal over dinner around October 2006 that two Tangs should give him a sedan car free of charge for Zheng to use during his retirement. Tang Xiaodong entrusted a third person to transfer 580,000 yuan to the bank account of Zheng's son-in-law, who used the money to buy an Audi sedan in his own name.

The court said as a government official, Zheng Shangjin abused his power and accepted bribes totaling 680,000 yuan from the Tang brothers on two separate occasions.

The court concluded Zheng Shangjin was guilty of bribe taking, but leniency was shown in the sentence considering that Zheng surrendered himself to the police, told all the crimes he had committed, and all bribes he took were retrieved by February 17, 2007, when he was arrested by Shenzhen City Procuratorate.