A court in China has handed a life sentence to the most senior judge ever convicted for corruption in the country.

Huang Songyou was dismissed as vice-president of the Supreme People's court in 2008 after being accused of taking more than $500,000 in bribes and embezzling government funds.

His sentence on Tuesday is being seen as part of the ruling Communist party's push to root out rampant corruption.

Huang confessed to his crimes during the investigation, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.

"Huang knowingly violated the law by trading power for money and taking a hefty sum of bribes, which has produced a bad impact on society, and should be punished severely," the report said, citing the court verdict.

The People's Daily, the Communist Party's newspaper, said in a commentary that the ruling showed no one was exempt from the government's anti-corruption campaign.

Zero tolerance

"The Langfang Intermediate People's Court's ruling on this issue states resoundingly that courts will not tolerate corruption in the administration of justice, no matter who, or at what level the cadres are," it said.

Al Jazeera's Melissa Chan, reporting from Beijing, said that the power politics of personal vendetta could not be ruled out in this case.

"Many may see this as a warning from the government that no matter how important your position is, you are not above the law," she said.

"However, others would argue that Huang could be a victim of a personal vendetta, where he may have worked on a case that has upset someone or a group of people."

Last week, Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, called the fight against corruption a "pressing task", and urged increased efforts to investigate embezzlement and corruption cases.