It was supposed to be China’s second “trial of the century” in as many years. However, on Thursday night a Chinese court announced that Zhou Yongkang, the highest profile victim of President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, had been sentenced to life imprisonment after being tried in secret on May 22.

Zhou’s closed-door trial and life sentence — for charges related to corruption, abuse of power and revealing state secrets — dashed expectations that the proceedings would be at least partially transparent, allowing Mr Xi to claim that the Chinese Communist party had secured an unprecedented conviction while also advancing the rule of law.

Such expectations were largely based on the fact that, in August 2013, authorities opened a small window on to the trial of Bo Xilai, a Zhou ally and rival to Mr Xi during China’s last rotation of party and government leaders. In Bo’s case, reporters were allowed to gather in a separate facility near his courtroom where they could monitor an edited transcript of the proceedings.