Wang Baoan, former head of the National Bureau of Statistics, pleaded guilty on Thursday to accepting 154 million yuan ($22.3 million) in the Zhangjiakou Intermediate People's Court, Hebei province.

A verdict will be issued at a later late.

In a separate case on the same day, in Lanzhou, Gansu province, Mao Xiaobing, a former high-ranking official from Qinghai province, was sentenced to life in prison for taking bribes and embezzling public funds.