Former head of the Chinese statistics bureau has been sentenced to a life jail by a Court on Wednesday for involvement in corruption. This is the newest public official being nailed by President Xi Jinping’s tough war against corruption.

“A court in the city of Zhangjiakou found Wang Baoan had illegally accepted the equivalent of over 153 million Yuan (22.5 million dollars) in cash and other valuables.

“Wang’s crimes took place between 1994 and 2016, when he held a variety of other jobs, including in the finance ministry.

“Wang confessed and repented, meaning he has been given a lighter sentence,’’ said the court.

The convict could not reach either his family or counsel for response to the verdict.

Wang Baoan served as deputy finance minister from 2012 through April 2015, when he assumed his last official post as statistics bureau chief.

The current anti-graft war of Xi is intended to rid the country of deeply entrenched corruption, which according to him, is capable of denying the ruling Communist Party of continuing in power.

In another case, a court in the south-western city of Liupanshui adjudicated that a former vice governor of the populous province of Sichuan accused of bribery be sentenced to 10-year jail term.

The convict, Li Chengyun had received bribes totaling 6.36 million Yuan (933,250 dollars), the court said.

He also could not get in touch with family member for response to the judgment.

Sichuan, well known for its spicy cuisine, was at the centre of focus of Xi’s daring blow against corruption because it has become a stronghold for Zhou Yongkang, Chinese one-time influential domestic security chief.

Zhou received a life jail in 2015 for corruption charges in 2015 while dozens of his cronies have been seized, most of whom are in Sichuan, where he held sway as a Communist Party chief from 1999 through 2002.