Former Vice Chairman and Executive Director of China Mobile, Mr. Zhang Chunjiang has been sentenced to death following his conviction for bribery by a Chinese High Court. Reports from China said the court in Hebei province of North China found that Mr. Zhang took US$1.15 million in bribes between 1994 and 2009. The sentence has however been suspended for two years, and could be commuted to life on account of good behaviour. Mr. Zhang was said to have taken the bribes during his days as Deputy Director of the Liaoning provincial postal administration, General Manager of China Netcom Group Corporation, and Party Chief as well as Deputy General Manager of China Mobile. He was arrested in December 2009, while still at China Mobile and dismissed a couple of weeks later. Meanwhile reports say Chinese authorities are currently carrying out a wide-ranging investigation into further allegations of corruption at the country's three state-controlled telecoms networks, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. The passports of several mid-level managers have been confiscated during the investigation. The Chinese government has periodic high-profile purges associated with corruption scandals, especially at state-linked companies, although the probes could be a cleaning up exercise prior to the oft-rumoured intention to list the companies on the Shanghai stock market. Story by: Samuel Nii Narku Dowuona/Adom News/Ghana