Zhu Xiaohua, former chairman of China Everbright Group, was convicted of bribery and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on Thursday, according to China's Supreme People's Court.

The sentence was made by the Beijing Municipal No.1 Intermediate People's Court after its first trial of the case.

Zhu was found to have taken about 4.06 million yuan (489,157 US dollars) worth of bribes from 1997 to 1999 when he was chairman ofthe group which controls one of China's largest banks.

Zhu accepted bribes in return for ensuring that Everbright would buy shares of a specific company, a real estate project and provide a guarantee for the developer of the real estate project, causing heavy losses to the group.

According to the Beijing court, the sentence is comparatively light as the court has taken into account the fact that Zhu declared some crimes above those already known to the court.

(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2002)