HOHHOT - A former senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for corruption, a local court said Saturday.

Bai Zhiming, former deputy secretary-general of the CPC's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Committee, was convicted of accepting 10.4 million yuan ($1.7 million) in bribes, according to a verdict handed down by the Intermediate People's Court in the city of Chifeng on Friday afternoon.

Bai helped both companies and individuals, including a property developer, a construction contractor and a building materials company, win contracts and obtain land and low-interest loans after taking bribes from them, the court found.

The 57-year-old was also convicted of possessing public assets worth 4.9 million yuan as well as 6 million yuan in funds from sources that could not be identified.

Bai was also found to illegally possess a gun and bullets. Police seized a hunting gun and 177 handgun bullets after arresting him in November last year.

During the court hearing, Bai said he would appeal the verdict that also ordered the confiscation of all of his personal assets and stripped him of political rights for life.