A former vice mayor in East China's Jiangxi Province was sentenced to life in prison for corruption on Tuesday, a local court said.

Gong Xishui, former vice mayor of Yichun City, was convicted of taking bribes worth nearly 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) by the Intermediate People's Court of Nanchang City, capital of Jiangxi, the court said in a statement.

Gong, 56, was found to have accepted bribes of more than 8.37 million yuan ($1.2 million), plus 20,000 US dollars and 220,000 Hong Kong dollars in cash, two kilograms of gold, an apartment, a Rolex wrist watch, and a shopping card worth 10,000 yuan between 2006 and 2012, the statement said.

During this period, Gong held several positions, including secretary of the Yifeng County Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), assistant to the mayor and vice mayor of Yichun City, Standing Committee member of the CPC Yichun City Committee, and secretary of the CPC Yuanzhou District Committee in Yichun City, said the statement.

Gong said in court that he would file an appeal against the ruling.