The wife of an Australian businessman jailed for alleged embezzlement, bribery, falsifying records and corruption in China says she has cancer and fears her death is likely to happen sooner than her husband's release from prison.

Nikki Chow, wife of Matthew Ng, is still in shock after her husband was sentenced in China to 13 years in jail for the four charges against him.

Ms. Chow told Australian media she was devastated by the sentence.

"I don't think he can take it," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Ms. Chow when she was asked for her thoughts on the sentence.

Chow says her husband will appeal the harsh sentence, while she raises their children despite her breast cancer.

Ng, a Chinese-born Australian citizen, was detained in the city of Guangzhou in November 2010 in relation to a commercial dispute between his travel company Et-China and Lingnan Group, a corporation owned by the municipal government of Guangzhou.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs has said in a statement that it has coordinated with Chinese authorities regarding the charges against Ng. The department further said Prime Minister Julia Gillard had talked to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao about Ng's case, according to ABC News.

According to reports, Ng's company took a majority holding in a firm called GZL, a subsidiary of the Lingnan Group, during 2007 and 2008. When Lingnan asked Ng to sell the shares back at the original price, Ng refused. Industry commentators said he was being punished for making such a refusal.

On the other hand, Chinese prosecutors accused Ng of illegally transferring money between Et-China and GZL, and bribing GZL officials.

The court also jailed GZL boss Zheng Hong for 16 years for taking bribes, and GZL's former chief financial officer Kitty Yang Xiaoping for three-and-a-half years for charges including embezzlement.

The Australian consular officials, Ng's lawyers and his family, all expected that Monday's hearing was to be procedural only. ABC reports that prosecutors brought new evidence that sealed the verdict against Ng.