China 'executes banking official for fraud'

Corruption is seen as a threat to the legitimacy of communism

China has executed a former central bank official for fraud, according to the official Xinhua state news agency.

Chen Zhiqing was an official with the state treasury department at a People's Bank of China branch in the poor northwest province of Qinghai.

He was accused of using tax refunds, fake transfers and false receipts to steal nearly 15.5m yuan ($1.9m; £1.3m).

The case is the biggest involving the state treasury since the founding of Communist China in 1949.

Corruption is seen as a threat to the legitimacy of the communist government and the state has repeatedly stressed its commitment to crackdown on financial fraud.

Final decision

The crimes took place between 1992 and 1997 and were uncovered in 1999.

Nine other officials were accused of scheming with Chen.

The case has been tied up in court for several years.

Last month, the Supreme People's Court, China's highest judicial authority, upheld the death sentence.