BEIJING (REUTERS) - A Chinese court has jailed the former chief of one of the country's largest state-owned automakers for 11½ years for graft, China Central Television (CCTV) said on Thursday (Feb 9), the latest official swept up in a campaign to eradicate corruption.

Xu Jianyi, the former chairman and party secretary of China FAW Group Corp, had accepted 12.2 million yuan (S$2.5 million) in bribes, the broadcaster said, citing a court in Beijing.

A FAW representative declined to provide any immediate comment.

The court said it exercised leniency for Xu, who is also the former secretary of China's ruling Communist Party in the north-eastern province of Jilin, because he had confessed and helped secure the return of the illegal gains.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned he will go after high-ranking "tigers" as well as lower-ranked "flies" in the far-reaching campaign unleashed since he took office in 2013.