Two Chinese government officials were on Monday sentenced to lengthy prison terms after being found guilty of leaking confidential economic data to stock traders before the official releases, according to state prosecutors.

Wu Chaoming, a researcher at the Finance Institute of the People's Bank of China, was sentenced to six years in prison. Sun Zhen, who worked for the National Bureau of Statistics, was given a four-year sentence for profiting by selling state secrets.

Both were paid large fees