A court in the southern city of Shenzhen Thursday sentenced a former district chief to death with a two-year reprieve after he was convicted of taking a bribe in return for real-estate approval.

Zhong Xinming, 48, former deputy head of Longgang district, was sentenced by the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen. He was in charge of land use from 2007 to 2010, according to a statement issued by the court.

According to the statement, Zhong, together with his brother Zhong Weiming, took bribes worth of 5.44 million dollars from Wu Weiguang, a real-estate developer, in return for approval of a piece of land.

Zhong Weiming and Wu received 12- and 11-year prison sentences, respectively.