The sentence was handed down by the Nanjing Intermediate People's Court in east China's Jiangsu Province to Huang Sheng, former deputy governor of east China's Shandong Province.
The court also deprived Huang of his political rights for life and ordered the confiscation of his personal assets, the report said.
The court found that Huang took advantage of his official posts as the mayor and Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of Shandong's city of Dezhou, as well as deputy governor of Shandong, to help others obtain promotions and business-related benefits from 1998 to 2011.
The court ruled that Huang's acts amounted to accepting bribes, but noted that his voluntary confession, repentance and the return of his illegal gains to relevant authorities were taken into consideration in reaching the verdict.