BEIJING - Former deputy head of China's national political advisory body Ling Jihua has been charged with taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abuse of power, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Friday.

The SPP said that, following the investigation, it designated the No. 1 branch of Tianjin Municipal People's Procuratorate to exercise jurisdiction over the case.

The No. 1 branch of Tianjin Municipal People's Procuratorate has filed a lawsuit for Ling's case to the No. 1 Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin in recent days, the SPP said in a statement.

Ling was former vice chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and head of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, before he was announced to have been put under investigation by the authority at the end of 2014.