Former Inner Mongolia's legislator sentenced for graft

Xing Yun, a former senior legislator of northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on Tuesday at the Intermediate People's Court of Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning Province for taking bribes.

Xing, former vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Inner Mongolia, was accused of taking advantage of various positions he formerly held to help in construction contracts and personnel promotion for others from 1996 to 2017, as well as accepting money and valuables worth of 449 million yuan (about US$63.9 million) directly or through his relatives in return, according to a statement by the court.

The court granted him a lenient punishment as he confessed, pleaded guilty and surrendered illicit money and properties in bribes, all of which have been recovered, the statement said.

The defendant was deprived of his political rights for life and had his personal properties confiscated, it said.

All his ill-gotten assets confiscated will be turned in to the national treasury, the statement added.

After the two-year reprieve, Xing's death penalty will be commuted to life imprisonment, and no further commutation or parole will be permitted, according to the statement.

Xing said he accepted the sentence and would not appeal.