Top China Mobile executive gets death sentence for taking $1.15m bribe

A former vice chairman of China Mobile has been sentenced to death for accepting bribes, although the man was given a two-year reprieve.

Zhang Chunjiang was found guilty of accepting the bribes, as well as awarding favourable contract terms, to enrich himself to the tune of $1.15m between 1994 and 2009, China Daily reports.

The money is thought to have come from Beijing-based Yidi Dianxun Technology and Sunshine Jia Xin Technology.

After the verdict the Intermediate People's Court of Cangzhou city suspended the death sentence for two years because Zhang had confessed to his crimes and the bribe money had been recovered.

However, he has been stripped of all personal assets and political rights even if he behaves well for his suspension period.

Investigations into Zhang began in 2009, and he was thrown out of the Communist Party in 2010. He was a senior party official within China Mobile, as well as holding a management position.

Other China Mobile executives are also being investigated after the government announced a crackdown on fraud and corruption in the country's technology sector.

ISPs are also being probed and yesterday 21 people were jailed, two receiving life sentences and the removal of all political rights, following a police investigation into transnational telecoms fraud.