China's ex deputy security minister jailed for graft

He was charged with illegally accepting almost 22 million yuan worth of assets and abusing power in positions he held between 1996 and 2013

China's former vice public security minister was today jailed for 15 years on corruption charges, the latest top official to be sentenced after being brought down in a sweeping anti-graft campaign initiated by President Xi Jinping.

Li Dongsheng had ties to Zhou Yongkang, ex-security czar jailed for life in June in one of China's biggest ever corruption scandals.

Li went on trial at a court in thenorthern city of Tianjin in October, charged with illegally accepting almost 22 million yuan ($3.5 million) worth of assets and abusing power in positions he held between 1996 and 2013.

Between 1996 and 2013, Li's positions also included deputy president of State broadcaster CCTV and member of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the ruling Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Li was put under investigation in late 2013. In June 2014, Li had been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) for "serious disciplinary violations." Aninvestigation into Li's case found that he took advantage of his position to seek benefits for others and extorted and received bribes.

This is the latest in a series ofsentences of former high-ranking officials netted in China's anti-corruption campaign.

Jiang Jiemin, former head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, was sentenced to 16 years in prison in October. Wang Yongchun, a senior energy executive, received 20 years in prison.