A former Chinese Communist Party official who was once tipped as a potential successor to President Xi Jinping was sentenced to life in prison for bribery yesterday, the latest senior cadre to fall in Xi's sweeping anti-corruption crusade.

Sun Zhengcai, a former Politburo member and party chief of the southwestern mega-city of Chongqing, was found guilty of taking $26.7 million in bribes, the First Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin said in a statement on its website.

Sun, 54, had once been tipped for promotion to the Politburo's elite seven-member standing committee.