A county-level official was sentenced to death for bribery and embezzlement in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Wednesday.

Zhang Xinhua, 52, former general manager of Guangzhou Baiyun District Joint Company of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, was also stripped of his political rights, and all property he gained illegally was confiscated, the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court said.

"Zhang refused to confess his crime after he came under investigation," according to the public prosecutor.