Chen Qian/Shanghai Daily news

One of China's former richest men has been sentenced to 20 years in jail. Qiu Zhongbao, a 44-year-old Shanghai native, embezzled 1.2 billion yuan (US$174 million) from three listed firms, Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court said on Wednesday.

Qiu, chairman of a Xi'an-based company and ranked among the 500 richest people in China by New Fortune magazine in 2003 and 2004, was also fined 1 million yuan.