Corrupt rail official's mistress gets prison

China has stepped up its fight against corrupt officials and those near them, judicial experts said, after a Beijing court sentenced the mistress of a former railway official on Tuesday.

Luo Fei, the mistress of Zhang Shuguang, former deputy chief engineer of the transport bureau under what was then the ministry of railways - now China Railway Corp - was sentenced to five years in prison for bribery, Beijing Legal Evening News reported on Tuesday. Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court said that Luo helped Zhang accept and hide at least 1.98 million yuan ($322,000) in bribes. Luo pleaded guilty at a trial in November 2013, according to the report.

Luo, who was a singer in a railway arts group, did not appeal to a higher court after the judgment was announced, the report said.