BEIJING - A TOP official in a leading Chinese city has been sentenced to death for graft, while an ongoing anti-corruption drive has ensnared other regional leaders, state press said on Tuesday.

Wang Zheng, the former top official of southwest Chongqing municipality, was convicted of accepting over 2.23 million yuan (S$441,773) in bribes, the Chongqing Evening News said.

Wang, the former vice head of Chongqing's prosperous Yuzhong district, was sentenced to death and given a two-year reprieve on Dec 31, meaning the punishment is likely to be commuted to life in prison.

In a separate case, Yu Guohua, vice mayor of Jilin city in northeast China, was ousted from the ruling Communist Party and stripped of his post for 'serious violations of discipline,' the Jilin Daily reported.

'Yu Guohua used his position to receive and solicit a large amount of bribes, illegally possessed firearms, held corrupt morals and maintained a mistress,' the paper said.

'His case is serious and its influence on the public is bad.' Party disciplinarian officials have handed the case over for prosecution in the legal system, it added.

Meanwhile, Cui Baohong, the former head of Heshun county in northern Shanxi province, was jailed for 20 years for graft amounting to 9.42 million yuan, the China Youth Daily said.

Cui was convicted by an intermediate court on Monday of extorting 2.45 million yuan, misappropriating 3.9 million yuan and accepting three million yuan in bribes.

Heshun is one of China's most impoverished counties, the paper said.

When arrested, the former county head maintained four apartments in the provincial capital of Taiyuan, owned 18 cars and possessed 4.11 million yuan in cash, it said. -- AFP