A Chinese court on Friday sentenced a 71-year-old woman journalist to seven years in jail for leaking state secrets, it said, in a case seen by rights groups as part of a crackdown on government critics.

Gao Yu --  named one of the International Press Institute's 50 "world press heroes" in 2000 -- "illegally provided state secrets to foreigners", Beijing's No. 3 Intermediate People's court said on a verified social media account.