BEIJING (REUTERS, AFP) - A court in China's northern city of Tianjin on Tuesday (Jan 21) jailed former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei for 13½ years over charges of bribery.

He was also fined two million yuan (S$391,130), said the Tianjin First Intermediate People's Court.

The court statement said Meng had "truthfully confessed to all the criminal facts" and would not appeal against the decision.

Meng - a former vice-minister of public security - is among a growing group of Communist Party cadres caught in President Xi Jinping's anti-graft campaign, which critics say has also served as a way to remove the leader's political enemies.

Interpol, the global police coordination agency based in France, said late in 2018 that Meng had resigned as its president, days after his wife reported him missing following a trip to his home country of China.

Last March, the ruling Communist Party said its investigation had found Meng spent "lavish" amounts of state funds, abused his power and refused to follow party decisions.

Meng admitted his guilt in July last year.

His wife was granted political asylum in France last year after saying that she was afraid she and her two children would be the targets of kidnapping attempts.