BEIJING -- A former vice governor of Northeast China's Jilin province was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday for taking bribes.

Tian Xueren pocketed over 19 million yuan (more than $3 million) in bribes, according the verdict by Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.

Tian had traded jobs and contracts for bribes between 1995 and 2011, taking advantage of his positions as deputy party chief of Changchun city; party chief of Jilin city and Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture; vice governor of Jilin; and chairman of the board and party chief of the Bank of Jilin.

The ruling confiscates all his personal assets and he is deprived of his political rights for life.

Tian was expelled from the Communist Party of China and dismissed from all his posts for "severe disciplinary and legal violations" in July 2012.