The owner of a factory in east China's Zhejiang Province was sentenced to five years in prison over the collapse of a workshop building, which killed 14 workers and injured dozens last year.

The Wenling City People's Court on Friday convicted Xu Fulin, owner of a local shoe factory, of building the factory without official approval from 2011 to 2012 and causing a major work safety accident.

The four-story workshop building collapsed on July 4, 2015, leaving 14 people dead and 33 others injured due to overloading of the structure.

Xu turned himself in after the accident and compensated the victims, which prompted the court to issue a lenient sentence.

The owner confessed to the crime. He raised nearly 12 million yuan (1.8 million U.S. dollars) to handle the aftermath of the accident.