Ling Jihua charged, to face trial in Tianjin

Prosecutors have ended a lengthy corruption probe of a former State-level official and formally charged him, the top procuratorate said on Friday.

Ling Jihua, former vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, is charged with taking bribes, illegally obtaining State secrets and a busing power, according to a statement from the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Ling was director of the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee between 2007 and 2012. He later served as head of the CPC Central Committee's United Front Work Department before he was investigated on suspicion of graft in late 2014.