Sep.19 (GMM) The fired general manager of Shanghai's formula one circuit has been convicted of embezzlement, state reports said on Wednesday.

Yu Zhifei, instrumental in bringing the sport to China and a key promoter until his removal, had last October been implicated in a major corruption scandal.

Among other abuses, he was accused of using public money to buy a house.

Yu "embezzled large amounts of money and should bear criminal responsibility", the prosecutor said during his one-day trial this week, according to the China Daily.

His conviction is however unlikely to affect the upcoming Chinese GP in Shanghai, even though a highway connecting the city with the circuit is thought to be among the projects linked with the wider scandal involving the misuse of pension funds.

Yu's sentence, if any, is not yet known.