Meng’s role as a member of the supreme court’s trial committee – a group of high-ranking officials selected by the National People’s Congress, the country’s legislature – meant he was involved in discussions about complex and important cases.

The bureau enforces court orders, handles disputes involving the execution of judgments across different regions or provinces and reviews appeals relating to those judgments.

He had worked in the country’s justice system for more than three decades, starting as a clerk in a local district court in Beijing.

As he rose through the ranks he held various leadership positions in the judicial system, including the high people’s court in Beijing.

The verdict said Meng had been given a lighter sentence because he had expressed remorse and confessed to bribery offences the authorities had not previously known about.

All his illegal earnings will be confiscated, and any interest accrued will be handed over to the national treasury.

Former Bank of China chief Liu Liange facing corruption investigation

Earlier this year, during the annual meeting of the legislature, Zhou Qiang, a former chief justice, said 61 officials from the supreme court – which comprises hundreds of judges and administrative officials – had been placed under investigation and punished over the past five years.

He said the anti-corruption campaign targeting the legal sector would help improve the integrity of the judicial system.