BEIJING - A TRANSPORT executive accused of corruption involving a total of 50 million yuan (S$9.8 million) has been sentenced to death in north-eastern China, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

Former North-east Expressway Co Chairman Zhang Xiaoguang's sentence was suspended for two years by the Intermediate People's Court of Baicheng City, Jilin Province, after which it would likely be reduced to life in prison.

Authorities believe Zhang's case is linked to those of two other suspects accused of stealing 1 billion yuan in bank accounts before fleeing to Canada two years ago, Xinhua said. China is seeking repatriation of the two men, former Bank of China branch head Gao Shan and colleague Li Dongzhe.

Xinhua said Zhang had been found guilty of taking bribes, corruption, embezzling public funds, 'illegally seeking private interest on behalf of relatives,' and 'possessing major assets for which he could not account.' Zhang's personal property was also confiscated, the report said.

A clerk at the Baicheng court confirmed the charges and Zhang's sentence, but said he did not know if an appeal was planned and had no other details. Like most Chinese bureaucrats, he refused to give his name because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Xinhua said prosecutors believed Zhang deposited 293 million yuan of North-east Expressway funds in the Bank of China branch in the north-eastern city of Heilongjiang where Gao was manager, apparently in return for bribes. Shortly afterwards, in January 2005, Zhang was arrested on suspicion of misappropriating funds.

Although officials have called for more judicious use of the death penalty, China still regularly sentences white-collar criminals to die for non-violent crimes such as corruption and tax evasion, arguing the crimes have an 'extremely odious effect on society.' Despite repeated campaigns to eradicate it, corruption is rife among officials and employees of state-owned companies, posing what the ruling Communist Party describes as a major threat to its survival.

A study in the southern industrial powerhouse province of Guangzhou found corrupt officials growing bolder, with recent offenders tending to be younger and better educated than in the past, when many were senior officials in their sixties putting away money for retirement.

Over consumption, greed, indebtedness and heavy college tuition payments were mentioned among the leading reasons for the new trend. -- AP