China court jails former top planning official for life in bribery scandal

A Chinese court on Wednesday sentenced to life imprisonment the former deputy head of China's top planning agency in a bribery scandal that exposed graft at the highest levels of China's government.

The sentence, handed down by a court just outside of Beijing, capped the downfall of Liu Tienan, who was sacked as deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) last year, a position that carries minsterial-level status.

Liu was the first ministerial-level official to face an investigation after Xi Jinping became Communist Party head in late 2012 and launched the most aggressive anti-graft campaign China has seen in decades.

Xi has pledged to take down high-ranking "tigers" and low-ranking "flies" in his fight against a pervasive problem he says could threaten the Chinese Communist Party's rule.