A Chinese activist who was imprisoned for criticizing Beijing's response after a deadly earthquake has been released.

Huang Qi, who is in his late 40s, was released Friday from a prison in Dazhu city in China's southwestern province of Sichuan.

Huang, who had criticized the government's response to a 2008 earthquake that killed nearly 90,000 people in Sichuan province was convicted of illegally possessing state secrets.

He was gathering information on faulty government standards and improper construction of schools for parents who were attempting to sue Beijing for the deaths of their children.