A court in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province has sentences a retired police chief to death after he was found guilty of bribery, possession of explosives, and first-degree murder.

The former police chief of the northern region of Inner Mongolia, Zhao Liping, 64, was handed the death sentence by the Intermediate People's Court on Friday.

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A court said that Zhao was given a death sentence on account of the "facts, nature, circumstance and the degree of the damage to society."

Zhao reportedly shot and murdered his 28-year-old mistress, only identified as "Li," three times. She had managed to survive first two shots, but a final shot to the head killed her. He later burned her body and buried it in a bid to cover his tracks.

The motives for the murder, which occurred in March last year, were not mentioned by the court. There are speculations that Li was set to report Zhao's criminal activities.

"The nature of Zhao Liping's murder was sinful, the plot especially vile, the means especially cruel, the danger to society grave," the court said. "He refused to plead guilty and should be severely punished." 

According to Xinhua News Agency, while he was still working as a police chief, Zhao took not less than two million yuan ($290,000) in bribes. He also stored 91 detonators in his office.

Zhao was taken into custody on suspicion of murder last year. He was officially accused of murder in February this year.

He will, however, be allowed to appeal the ruling at the nation's highest court.

China's President Xi Jinping has stressed the need for public officials lead by example in the fight against corruption.

Tagschina, China Law, Death Sentence, Zhao Liping