CHINA. OILFIELD FIRM CHIEF SENTENCED TO DEATH

China sentenced to death Li Rongxing, the former president of a firm connected with the country's number-two oil field, for taking bribes and embezzling nearly 37 million yuan ($4.62 million). Li used his job at Sinopec unit Shengli Oilfield Daming Group to siphon off the cash between April 1994 and December 2003. The money came from a range of schemes, including inflating property prices. Li also accepted some 4.83 million yuan in gifts, ranging from cash to high-tech music systems. The sentence handed down by the Taian city people's intermediate court stripped Li of his political rights but suspended the execution for two years. Suspended death sentences in China are traditionally commuted to life imprisonment.