Chinese insurance boss sentenced in finance crackdown

The former chairman of China Life Insurance, Wang Bin, has become the latest high-profile boss to be imprisoned as Beijing's crackdown on the financial industry continues.

Mr Wang was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, according to a court ruling seen by the BBC.

After two years, the sentence will be commuted to life in prison without parole, the ruling says.

In April, authorities warned that the crackdown was far from over.

A court in Jinan in eastern China's Shandong province found Mr Wang guilty of taking 325 million yuan ($44.6m; £35.7m) in bribes.

Mr Wang, who was the firm's Communist Party chief, was also sentenced to a year in prison for illegally hiding 54.2 million yuan in overseas deposits.

He is the latest former head of a major Chinese financial institution to be ensnared in President Xi Jinping's crackdown on corruption in the $60 trillion (£48 trillion) industry.

In June, Fan Yifei, a deputy governor of the country's central bank, was arrested for suspected bribery and is facing criminal investigation. He has also been expelled from the Communist Party.

An investigation into Bank of China's party chief Liu Liange was launched in March. Mr Liu is suspected of "serious violations of discipline and law," authorities said.

Former banking regulator Cai Esheng, who retired a decade ago, was prosecuted last year on charges including taking "huge" bribes.

The same year, former China Development Bank chairman Hu Huaibang was sentenced to life in prison in a 85.5 million yuan bribery case.