BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese authorities have transferred former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang's corruption case to "judicial organs", paving the way for his trial, the party's anti-graft watchdog said on Wednesday.

The deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Huang Shuxian made the remarks in a statement on its website.

Last year, China said it had arrested Zhou and expelled him him from the ruling Communist Party, accusing him of crimes ranging from accepting bribes to leaking state secrets. It also said his case had been handed over to judicial authorities.

Zhou, 71, is by far the highest-profile figure caught up in President Xi Jinping's crackdown on corruption. He is the most senior Chinese official to be ensnared in a graft scandal since the party swept to power in 1949.