Former Chinese coal boss gets life in jail for graft

Reuters reports a former senior executive at China’s No. 3 state-owned coal producer has been sentenced to life imprisonment for accepting bribes, state media Xinhua said on Sunday.

Zhao Shenglong, a former vice-president at Datong Coal Mine Group, was found to have taken two bribes totalling more than 8.29 million yuan ($1.3 million) between 2000 and 2005, Xinhua said. Datong is the parent of Shanghai-listed Datong Coal Industry Company Ltd. Widespread corruption has bred resentment among many Chinese, who also feel aggrieved by the pollution and illegal land grabs that accompany China’s rapid economic growth.

Reuters reports corruption is common in China’s political and business arenas. High-profile officials who have fallen from grace after bribery cases include former Shanghai Communist Party Chief Chen Liangyu, and Kang Rixin, the former head of China’s main nuclear energy firm.

In China in 2009, 21 people were tried and sentenced over a tainted baby milk scheme that led to several deaths. Sanlu Group, the dairy giant at the centre of the scandal’s general manager, Tian Wenhua, was given a life sentence after pleading guilty to charges of producing and selling fake or substandard products while two farmers were executed for their role.