Chinese Court Sentences Ex-Top Communist Official to Life Term for Graft - Media

BEIJING (Sputnik) - A court in China's Tianjin port city ruled to give a life sentence to Sun Zhengcai, a former member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, for corruption, local media reported on Tuesday.

The China Central Television reported that the former official had pleaded guilty and agreed with the verdict.

Sun said that he would not appeal against the sentence, the media outlet added.

In September, the Politburo of the Central Committee decided to exclude Sun from the ranks of the party citing "violation of the party discipline." In October, the participants of the plenary session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China approved the decision.

In December, the Supreme People's Procuratorate of China launched an investigation into the activities of Sun suspecting him of taking bribes worth about $27 million.