China's former Railways Minister, Liu Zhijun, has been given a suspended death penalty for bribery and abuse of power, making him the highest-ranking official sentenced for such offences since the country's new leaders took office.

The great achievements of the world's longest high-speed rail don't excuse corruption.

Liu Zhijun, once hailed as the "father" of China's high-speed railways has been handed a suspended death sentence and had all his property confiscated.

Experts say the sentencing shows the resolve of China's top leaders to target both high-ranking "tigers" and low-ranking "flies".

Meetings were held by the People's Court before the trial to guarantee Liu's right to defense.

A press briefing was also held to satisfy the public's right to know.

The proceedings have been conducted in an open and transparent way to ensure fairness of the trial and guarantee that the spirit of the law is upheld.

When the country's new leader Xin Jinping took office, he identified corruption as a threat to the party.

In the past three weeks, the CPC anti-corruption watchdog announced investigations into three vice ministerial officials, including Guo Yongxiang, the former vice governor of Sichuan Province.

Many low-ranking officials have also been investigated after social media users exposed alleged corruption.

There are over 660,000 officials who have been punished for disciplinary violations since the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in 2007. And more than 60 officials among them are at the ministerial and provincial level.

Liu's case reflects the CPC Central Committee's determination to investigate each graft case and punish any corrupt official. Investigating corruption cases is a long-term task in the process of building a clean government, it requires further reforms in the legal and judicial sectors.

(CNTV.cn July 9, 2013)