BEIJING, Dec. 3 -- Shen Peiping, 53, former vice governor of Yunnan Province, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for accepting bribes worth around 16 million yuan (2.5 million U.S. dollars), a Beijing court announced Thursday.

Having pleaded guilty to the charges, Shen's real estate property has already been seized and a further two million yuan of his personal assets will be confiscated, according to the ruling of the Beijing Municipal No.1 Intermediate People's Court.

Shen took advantage of his posts as Communist Party chief of Tengchong County and mayor of Simao City in Yunnan to seek benefits for local companies in mergers, iron ore sales and copper exploitation from 2000 to 2012. He accepted money and valuables worth about 16.15 million yuan from owners of the companies involved, identified as Duan Zhikui and Bi Sheng.

Leniency was not given as Shen tried to conceal evidence from the investigation and failed to declare all his illegal gains, although he provided information to judicial organs in other cases. Enditem