BEIJING - A former railway official in South China's Kunming city was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve over corruption charges in Beijing on Wednesday.

Wen Qingliang was removed from his post as head of the Kunming Bureau of Railways in the capital of South China's Yunnan province in 2011 for discipline investigations.

The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court heard that Wen took bribes worth more than 20 million yuan ($3.2 million) between 2005 and 2011, taking advantage of his position in the railway department in Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi province, to provide favors to companies bidding on railway projects.

The court said the leniency of the reprieve was given because most of the illegal income had been retrieved.

Wen's mistress Zhong Hua, who was prosecuted for colluding with Wen in amassing illegal funds, will be tried in a separated case.