Beijing - A former police chief in China's south-western Yunnan province has been jailed for 18 years for illegally selling explosives and accepting bribes, local media reported Wednesday.

Kang Tianxiang, 43, a former public security bureau director of Yunnan's Yiliang County, was originally handed a life sentence by the province's intermediate court, according to the Metropolis Times newspaper based in the provincial capital, Kunming.

Kang allegedly arranged for colleagues to sell 25 tons of explosives to local mine owners in March 2003, making a profit of 70,042 yuan (24,877 dollars).

He was also found to have taken bribes amounting to 840,000 yuan, and making illegal profits with money borrowed from mine owners.

After an appeal to the Yunnan Province Higher People's Court, Kang's sentence was reduced to 18 years. The court said the explosives were only sold to licensed mines and Kang had returned all the money he had illegally acquired.

Kang's personal property, worth 803,080 yuan, has also been confiscated. (dpa)