Beijing

CHINA's former security chief Zhou Yongkang was charged on Friday with bribery, abuse of power and disclosing state secrets, authorities said, making him the most senior official prosecuted in decades and setting the stage for a dramatic trial.

Zhou is the most prominent victim of President Xi Jinping's much-publicised anti-corruption drive, which has targeted high-level "tigers" as well as low-level "flies". He had a background in the oil industry and accumulated vast power as he rose through the ranks to become a member of the Communist Party's elite Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), the most powerful body in China.