Sun Haojie, a Internet firm owner, was driving a BMW SUV when he was stopped by officer Mao Shengquan, 32, for crossing the stop line at a busy junction in Shanghai's downtown district in March this year.
Sun did not reverse, but instead positioned himself for a U-turn. When the light turned green, Sun stepped hard on the car's accelerator, hitting Mao.
The officer died of brain injuries in hospital. Sun later turned himself to police.
The Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Sun to life imprisonment and deprived him of political rights.
However, the court held the impudent driving should be judged as intentional injury after over four months of proceedings, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.