(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-08-09 21:19

A Chinese court has sentenced a former senior city official to death for killing his mistress with a car bomb after he tired of her constant demands for money, state media said on Thursday.

Duan Yihe, once Communist Party secretary and head of the local assembly in the eastern city of Jinan, asked his niece's husband, Chen Zhi, to help with the plot, the official Xinhua news agency said. Chen was also sentenced to death.

Duan had had "irregular sexual relations" with victim Liu Haiping, the report said -- official speak for an affair.

"During that time, Liu asked Duan to buy a house for her and got him to arrange jobs for several relatives, but still kept demanding money," Xinhua said. "Duan gradually tired of her, yet found it hard to extricate himself."

So he plotted with Chen and finally came up with the idea of planting a bomb in Liu's car. After two tests, helped by a mechanic, they succeeded in blowing up Liu's car on July 9, wounding two passers-by in the process, it added.

Duan was also found guilty of bribery and being unable to account for the large amount of assets he had accrued, the report said.

The mechanic was sentenced to life in prison.

China is in the midst of a crackdown on corruption.