HANGZHOU, Dec. 20 -- A former deputy mayor of Jinhua City in east China's Zhejiang Province was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday for taking bribes.

Zhu Fulin, 54, was found guilty of taking bribes worth 15 million yuan (2.45 million U.S. dollars), consisting of 14.42 million yuan and 3,000 euros in cash, a Mazda car and three gold bars, according to a Lishui Municipal Intermediate People's Court ruling.

Zhu was also deprived of political rights for life and all of his property has been confiscated, according to the court.

Zhu was guilty of taking advantage of his post to cash in on land developments, official appointments and companies' environmental impact assessments, according to the ruling.