Beijing, July 8: A Chinese court has handed a former railways minister a suspended death sentence for bribery and abuse of power.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Liu Zhijun was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve by a court in Beijing on Monday. Such sentences usually are commuted to life in prison with good behavior.
Liu, 60, who oversaw the ministry's high-profile bullet train development, was accused of taking massive bribes and steering lucrative projects to associates.
The case is seen as an indicator of how top-level officials might fare in an anti-corruption campaign that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has vowed will target both high and low officials.
