NANNING - A former senior political advisor in south China's Hunan Province was sentenced to 11 years in jail on Tuesday for corruption.

Yang Baohua, former vice chairman of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was accused of taking bribes worth 13.56 million yuan (2.14 million U.S. dollars) between 1996 and 2014, according to the Guilin Intermediate People's Court in neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, where he was tried.

The bribes came in the form of cash and gifts and were accepted either personally by Yang, or through his relatives and others, to secure project contracts and other economic benefits.

Yang was also fined 1 million yuan. His illegal earnings were confiscated, according to the court.

Yang served as chief of the city committees of the Communist Party of China in Yueyang and Changsha, both in Hunan Province, before rising to the position of vice chairman.