Yang Lilun and Yang Liliang, the driver and boss of a chemical company in east China's Shandong Province, were convicted of the crime of endangering public security, said Xinyang Intermediate People's Court.
The bus was carrying 47 people when the explosion occurred and it caught fire on an expressway near Xinyang in the early morning.
Investigators found that the blast and blaze were caused by chemicals being carried illegally on the bus, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.