BEIJING, Aug 11 (CBC) - Canadian Michael Spavor has been found guilty and sentenced to 11 years in prison by a Chinese court in a verdict that will further test the strained relationship between the Canadian and Chinese governments.

He was convicted of spying and illegally providing state secrets to other countries.

The ruling also calls for the confiscation of approximately $10,000 of personal property and Spavor's deportation, though it's not yet clear when he will be forced to leave China.

The verdict and sentencing mark a significant new development in Spavor's journey through the Chinese legal system, which Ottawa and other observers have decried for a perceived lack of transparency.

Ottawa has called repeatedly on the Chinese government to release Spavor and fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig, who were both detained in what is widely seen as an act of retaliation following the arrest of the Chinese business executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver.

The verdict in Spavor's case was delivered at 10 p.m. ET Tuesday — which is 10 a.m. Wednesday in China — at a court in Dandong, a coastal city near the border with North Korea where Spavor is being held.

The Spavor verdict arrived just over 24 hours after a different Chinese court upheld a death sentence for Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian convicted on charges of drug smuggling.

Canada and several of its international allies condemned that decision and have called on China to grant clemency in the case.

Ottawa maintains that Spavor, an entrepreneur, and Kovrig, a former diplomat, were arbitrarily detained.

Kovrig's trial concluded in March but it's not clear when a verdict in his case will be delivered.

Meng, the chief financial officer of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei, is on trial in Vancouver, where she faces possible extradition to the United States for charges linked to violation of sanctions.