HANGZHOU - A court in East China's Zhejiang province on Friday sentenced a former vice-mayor to prison for abuse of power, local authorities said.

Ye Jiren, former vice-mayor of Wenzhou city, was sentenced to three years in jail for abuse of power, according to the verdict delivered by the Intermediate People's Court of Taizhou City on Friday.

The court ruled that, while serving as a vice-mayor, Ye allotted a large plot of land in Louqiao township, Ouhai district in Wenzhou city, to a private company, though the land was only authorized for use by state-owned enterprises.

Ye's actions caused a direct loss of 116 million yuan ($19 million), the court said.