Friday, November 3 12:29 AM SGT

BEIJING (AP)--Chinese courts sentenced 10 people to prison Thursday for illegally printing and selling books. One defendant received a life term for dealing in publications for the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.

The 10, convicted in the southern city of Guangzhou, received sentences ranging from five years to life for illegal business activities and producing obscene materials, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said.

The government strictly regulates publishing in an effort to prevent materials deemed subversive, pornographic or threatening to Communist Party rule from reaching China's book markets.

In a crackdown this year, party censors temporarily shut down at least 13 publishers and closed another. Censors banned books by two Shanghai novelists portraying the city's nightclub and drug subculture.

Officials have seized millions of books used by followers of Falun Gong since the [group] was banned as a threat to party rule in July 1999.

Falun Gong publications were among nearly 4.95 million illegal books printed by two of those sentenced in Guangzhou, Liang Jiantian and Liu Jingsong, Xinhua said.

Liang was sentenced to life imprisonment and Liu was given a 20-year term, both on charges of manufacturing obscene materials and conducting an illegal business, Xinhua said.

Among books printed and sold by four other people sentenced was one about China's intelligence community. Chen Weicheng, Xie Ri'an, Liu Lixin and Long Zhirong were sentenced to 14 years, 11 years, seven years and five years in prison, respectively, Xinhua said.

Xinhua said another defendant, Liu Yong, sold 8.31 million books, including one he put together himself about movie stars, and was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.