Zhou trial likely to serve as model

Judicial authorities say the coming trial of Zhou Yongkang, the country's former security chief who is facing charges of corruption, will provide a model for all future corruption trials.

Zhou's scheduled trial in a provincial-level court means there is no need for a national-level special corruption court for former high-ranking officials accused of wrongdoing, such as China set up in the early 1980s for the so-called Gang of Four, who were active during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76).

The Supreme People's Procuratorate announced on April 3 that it had assigned the Intermediate People's Procuratorate in Tianjin, a provincial-level municipality, to prosecute Zhou.