A former senior official of China's Hangzhou Housing Bureau has been sentenced to death on Tuesday after a court found him guilty of bribery and abuse of power.

Zhang Xin, former deputy chief of the housing authority, was given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve on Tuesday by the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court in the province of Zhejiang.

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A death sentence with reprieve gives the convicted individual time to make amends and show that he has changed his ways.

If the convict intentionally commits another crime during the period of the given reprieve, he will be executed. Otherwise, his sentence will then be reduced to lifetime imprisonment.

Zhang was accused of taking bribes with a total of 124 million yuan or US$20 million-worth of vehicles, apartments and cash to aid some people in construction projects that involved the agency.

The former housing deputy has also been causing 89 million yuan-worth of public asset loses and has been caught embezzling about 10.5 million yuan while conspiring with another suspected economic criminal, Dong Yilin.

According to the Xinhua news report, Zhang's personal assets and properties will be confiscated while Dong was given a sentence of 10 years' incarceration. Two million-worth of assets has also been confiscated from the latter.

On the same day of the housing deputy's sentencing, Zhang Xiaodong, former secretary for the Communist Party of China in Henan Province's Anyang City stood trial for corruption allegations.

The former party secretary allegedly received bribes amounting to over 21 million yuan or US$3.4 million for his assistance to some in the construction industry to be able to win construction projects and post delegations which are supposedly opened for bidding.

He was also accused of being involved in 36 other corruption cases tried in the Zhumadian City Intermediate People's Court.

During the trial, he had expressed his regret for committing such crime and had vowed to change his ways.

No verdict has been announced as of Xinhua's report on Wednesday.

Tagscourt, Bribery, Zhejiang province