Chinese Authorities Execute Former Official for Taking Bribes, Murder

Zhao Liping, a former senior political adviser in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, was executed following a death sentence by China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) over taking bribes and committing murder, local media reported Friday.

Zhao received over 23 million yuan ($3.4 million) from 2008 to 2010, when he was a police chief in Inner Mongolia and killed a young woman in 2015, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The former official was also charged with illicit possession of firearms, which was revealed during the investigation. The death sentence was handed to the former police chief in late 2016.

Capital punishment in China is given under 46 articles of the criminal code with the overwhelming majority of cases being illicit drug trafficking. However, recently, the number of death penalties for corruption has sharply increased.