BEIJING - A Chinese legislator on Thursday reaffirmed the legitimacy of China's trial of Liu Xiaobo, who was convicted of subversion charges and sentenced to 11 years in prison by a Chinese court last year.

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"The verdict by the Chinese court has sufficient legal and factual grounds," said the legislator in answering an question about the legal basis of the cases of Liu and others. The question was raised by a reporter from the USA Today.

"Some of these people you mentioned violated our country's Criminal Law, so they were held accountable in accordance with related provisions in the Criminal Law and related legal procedures," the legislator Li Fei told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.

Li is the vice director of the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the NPC Standing Committee, and a member of the NPC Law Committee.