Daughter of businesswoman in former railway minister's case jailed 7 yrs

Another Chinese businesswoman involved in the corruption case of former railway minister Liu Zhijun was sentenced to seven years in prison by a local court in Beijing Wednesday.

Hou Junxia was convicted of illegal business operations, according to a verdict by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court.

The court also confiscated 80 million yuan (12.9 million US dollars) of Hou's personal property.

On Tuesday, her mother, Ding Yuxin, better known for former name Ding Shumiao, received a 20-year jail term for bribery and illegal business operations.

Ding, the main power broker in railway minister's case, also was fined 2.5 billion yuan and had 20 million yuan in personal property confiscated.

Ding, together with several others, including her daughter, helped 23 railway construction contractors win bids for 57 railway projects between 2007 and 2010. The illegal commission fee amounted to over 3 billion yuan (484 million US dollars), the court found.

Liu himself was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for bribery and abuse of power on July 8 last year.