Chen Hongqi, the former chief of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region's transportation department, was sentenced to life in prison for bribery on Friday by the intermediate people's court of Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The court found Chen guilty of leveraging his positions as head of the region's safety production, quality supervision and transportation departments between 2009 and 2022 to assist individuals and organizations in securing contracts for road, waterway and insurance brokerage projects. In exchange, he directly and indirectly accepted bribes totaling over 90.31 million yuan ($12.47 million).

The court determined that while Chen's crimes warranted severe punishment due to the enormous sum involved, his sentence could be mitigated due to partial restitution of the illicit funds and other factors.

In addition to the life sentence, Chen was stripped of his political rights for life and all his personal assets were seized. The court also ordered the recovery of any remaining illicit funds.