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John Shing-wan Leung was also stripped of his political rights
after a brief trial on Monday, the Suzhou Intermediate People's
Court said in the statement.
The court added that Leung was a Hong Kong resident and a U.S.
passport holder.
The court gave no specifics of his alleged offence, but said:
"Suzhou's National Security Bureau began investigating Leung on
April 15, 2021, on suspicion of spying."
A U.S. embassy spokesperson said in an emailed statement in
response to Reuters that it was aware of the case, but due to
privacy considerations had no further comment.
"The Department of State has no greater priority than the safety
and security of U.S. citizens overseas," the spokesperson added.
The sentencing comes amid growing tensions between China and the
U.S. on a number of fronts, from accusations of Chinese spying
and human rights abuses, to U.S. efforts to build up military
alliances to curb China's ambitions toward Taiwan and in the
Pacific.
Last week, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met
China's top diplomat Wang Yi to try to keep open channels of
communication and to stablise the relationship between the
superpowers.
Hong Kong and Chinese media outlets reported that Leung had once
been a senior member of a Chinese patriotic group in the United
States called the U.S.-China Friendship Promotion Association.
Pictures were published of Leung with some senior Chinese
officials.
Leung was also mentioned in an article carried on the website of
the U.S.-China Friendship Association, another pro-China group,
voicing support for Hong Kong's national security law that China
had imposed on the financial hub in 2020 to restore stability
after pro-democracy protests.
Hong Kong's Security Bureau gave no immediate response to a
Reuters request for comment on Leung.
(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom and James Pomfret in Hong Kong;
Editing by Tom Hogue, William Maclean)
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