China ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang gets life sentence

He was found guilty of bribery, abuse of power and "intentionally disclosing national secrets", China's official Xinhua news agency reports.

 

Until his retirement in 2012, he was one of China's most powerful men.

He was put under investigation after Xi Jinping took over as president a year later, as part of a major anti-corruption campaign.

Mr Zhou pleaded guilty at a closed-door trial in the northern city of Tianjin. According to Xinhua, he said he would not launch an appeal.

There had been no public announcement about the trial until the conviction was announced on Thursday.

Mr Zhou was charged in April, nine months after a formal investigation was announced. He has since been expelled from the Communist Party.

He was once head of the Ministry of Public Security, as well as a member of China's top decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee.