Yang Fulin, former deputy commander of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, under first instance in the court on April 18, 2023. Photo: Ji'nan Intermediate People's Court

Yang Fulin, former deputy commander of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, was sentenced to 13 years in prison and fined 3 million yuan ($436,167) for taking bribes worth more than 30.49 million yuan in the first instance, Ji'nan Intermediate People's Court in East China's Shandong Province said on Tuesday.

Yang's illegal gains and relevant yields they generated will be retrieved and confiscated, said the court.

From 2001 to 2020, while working as a deputy commander of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and holding other posts, Yang provided assistance to relevant units and individuals in project contracting, job promotion and case handling in exchange for huge amounts of money and gifts worth of more than 30.49 million yuan, according to a statement released by the court.

The sum of bribes Yang took is massive, said the court. However, a lenient sentence was granted, considering that Yang had confessed to his crimes and showed repentance and had been cooperative in returning his illegal gains, the court said.

Yang was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) for grave violations of Party discipline and laws, according to Xinhua News Agency in December 2021.

China's top anti-graft body has been pushing forward the crackdown on corruption, with at least 17 centrally administered officials being investigated in about 100 days since the beginning of 2023.