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 The sentence, handed down by a court just outside of Beijing,
capped the downfall of Liu Tienan, who was sacked as deputy head of
the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) last year, a
position that carries ministerial-level status.
Liu was the first ministerial-level official to face an
investigation after Xi Jinping became Communist Party head in late
2012 and launched the most aggressive anti-graft campaign China has
seen in decades.
Xi has pledged to take down high-ranking "tigers" and low-ranking
"flies" in his fight against a pervasive problem he says could
threaten the Chinese Communist Party's rule.
Although the number of officials investigated for corruption has
increased, the government's campaign has not targeted high-level
"princelings", the privileged children of the revolutionary founders
of the People's Republic of China.
Analysts are divided on the motivations of Xi's campaign. Some say
the drive is seen as a tool to remove Xi's opponents, while others
say that it is necessary to weed out people standing in the way of
his implementation of economic reforms.
"Corruption is the biggest hindrance to China's reforms," said
Zhuang Deshui, the deputy director of the Clean Government Center at
Peking University. "In reality, the anti-corruption campaign is the
fight against interest groups and to change the present distribution
system of power."
"PAINFUL REMORSE"
Liu's trial has offered a rare glimpse into the amount of power
amassed by top officials, especially within the NDRC. The agency
sets policy for strategic industries, approves big investments,
mergers and acquisitions, and has the authority to influence prices
for everything from liquor to gasoline.
The presiding judge in the court of Langfang city in Hebei province
said Liu had "violated the integrity of the duties of the nation's
workers".
Prosecutors had charged Liu and his son, Liu Decheng, with taking
35.6 million yuan ($5.74 million) in bribes in dealings with various
companies.
China's crackdown on graft has extended to large companies such as
drugmakers, airlines and makers of medical devices.
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Liu, 60, pleaded guilty to extensive bribery involving several
companies including a Toyota joint venture in September. The Supreme
People's Procuratorate did not respond for comment on whether the
companies were being investigated. The firms could not be reached
for comment.
State television showed Liu breaking down into tears. He said he has
been in "a state of painful remorse" during the past 10 months of
investigation. "Every inquiry and every word has, in fact, been like
a whip beating my soul," he said.
At least two other officials at the NDRC have also been swept up in
the probe into the agency including Cao Changqing, who recently
retired as head of the pricing division at the NDRC, and Zhang
Dongsheng, who was the head of the employment and income
distribution division at the agency.
The government has also launched a series of probes into the energy
sector that has brought down senior officials in the National Energy
Administration and state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation.
Zhou Yongkang, the most senior leader targeted in a corruption probe
since the party took power in 1949, had built a vast network of
friends and allies in the energy sector over several decades. Last
Saturday, authorities said they had arrested Zhou and expelled him
from the party.
In a front-page article on Tuesday, the official People's Court
newspaper said "the entire (Supreme People's) Court and the police
agree to firmly support the central government's decision into the
handling of the Zhou Yongkang case".
(Additional reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Jeremy
Laurence)
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