A file photo of Ai Wenli. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Ai Wenli, a former senior political adviser in Hebei province, was sentenced by a court in Jiangsu province to eight years in jail on Thursday for accepting bribes.

He was also fined 3 million yuan($447,000). Property he obtained through bribery will be seized and handed over to the State treasury, according to a statement by the Suzhou Intermediate People's Court.

Ai was found to have abused his power from 2005 to 2013, while serving in various posts, including mayor and Party chief of Chengde, Hebei province; mayor of Shijiazhuang, Hebei; and head of the publicity department of the Hebei Committee of the Communist Party of China.

In exchange for bribes, he offered preferential treatment to organizations and individuals in the matters of enterprise restructuring, project development, the court said.

He illegally accepted properties equivalent to 64.78 million yuan either directly or through connections from 2006 to 2014.

The court said it believed that Ai had used his position and status to seek profits from others, to accept illegal property in extremely large amounts and committed bribery.

In view of the fact that Ai surrendered himself to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervisory Commission before being officially charged and had taken the initiative to turn over the illegal gains, the court said it would be lenient, as suggested by the CCDI.

The court said Ai was the first suspect who surrendered himself with illegal gains to the CCDI since the national supervision law took effect in 2017.