China jails 2 reporters accused of taking bribes and smearing company with fake stories

BEIJING – A Chinese court has jailed two journalists accused of taking bribes and smearing a listed engineering company with fabricated articles.

The Yuelu District Court in the central city of Changsha sentenced Chen Yongzhou to one year and 10 months over what it said were false reports accusing construction equipment manufacturer Zoomlion of releasing false financial information. Chen was also fined 20,000 yuan ($3,300) and forced to turn over 30,000 yuan (5,000) in alleged bribe money.

Co-writer of the articles Zhuo Zhiqiang was given 10 months and fined 10,000 yuan ($1,600).

Zoomlion's share price took a hit as a result of the articles published in the New Express daily, which fired the pair and ran a front-page apology. The court didn't say who bribed them or why.