A mainland doctorate student at the City University of Hong Kong was sentenced to six months' jail by the district magistrate in Kowloon Town after she admitted to attempted bribery.

The case was the first of its type in Hong Kong. The 25-year-old woman, Chen Jing, came to Hong Kong from Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, in September to do a PhD in mathematics.

She was accused of offering HK$10,000 to an associate professor in exchange for the details of an examination to be held on December 6.

The academic did not accept the cash and reported her to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Chen told the court she had sent an anonymous email to her lecturer asking for exam-related confidential information and had left an envelope containing HK$10,000 in his mailbox.

Wen Wei Po