The official Xinhua News Agency said a court in central Henan province sentenced Liu Xiang to death with a two-year reprieve for making and dealing in clenbuterol.

The drug converts fat to muscle quickly in pigs, so it makes more profit for farmers.

But China banns it because the drug can cause nausea, dizziness, headaches and heart palpitations in humans.

The court jailed four other people to terms from nine years to a life sentence.