A Chinese court on Sunday sentenced a television reporter to one year in jail for fabricating a report that Beijing dumpling makers used cardboard as a filling.

The official Xinhua news agency said the journalist, Zi Beijia, was convicted after an open court hearing of infringing the reputation of commodities. He was also fined 1,000 yuan ($132).

Zi, a temporary reporter for Beijing television, was arrested after it emerged that he had cooked up a report that local makers of steamed dumplings were softening cardboard by soaking it in caustic soda and then flavoring it with pork juice.

The report caused a stir, not least because China is under international scrutiny for exporting food and other products that safety inspectors have found to be tainted or substandard.