China's former railways minister went on trial on Sunday charged with accepting millions of dollars in bribes, state media reported, in the first high-profile corruption case under President Xi Jinping.

The ex-minister, Liu Zhijun, stood trial in a court in Beijing, the official Xinhua news agency reported in a brief dispatch.

According to the indictment, Liu took advantage of his position to help 11 people win promotions or contracts, and accepted 64.6 million yuan ($10.5 million) in bribes between 1986 and 2011, Xinhua reported.

"Liu's malpractices have led to huge losses of public assets and of the interests of the state and people, and he should be subject to criminal liabilities for bribe-taking and abuse of power," Xinhua quoted the indictment as saying.

The stakes are high for Liu. Under Chinese criminal law, the death penalty can be imposed for taking bribes over 100,000 yuan.

State television reported that the trial was held at the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court. It showed footage of the bespectacled Liu entering the courtroom and later standing before a panel of judges.

Xinhua reported that prosecutors presented evidence, while Liu's defence attorney argued on his behalf. About 50 people were in attendance, the report said, including 60-year-old Liu's family members.

"The judgement will be announced on a day to be decided," Xinhua said.

Liu's lawyer Qian Lieyang told the website of the People's Daily newspaper -- the Communist Party mouthpiece -- that Liu did not object to the charges against him and that the debate in court focused on the amount of money involved in the case.

Qian said Liu argued that he did not think 49 million yuan of the amount stated in the prosecutor's charge amounted to bribery.

Liu, known as the "father" of China's high-speed rail network for his role in pushing its development, was promoted to minister in 2003 after decades of work within the railway industry, and sacked in 2011.

He was expelled from the ruling Communist Party in November in a move widely seen as paving the way for the trial.

Charges were filed in April, Xinhua reported at the time. It cited the indictment as saying the circumstances surrounding the charges were "especially serious".

China's rail system -- which has cost hundreds of billions of dollars -- has been one of its flagship development projects in recent years, and it now boasts the world's longest high-speed network.

But a high-speed crash in the eastern city of Wenzhou in 2011 that killed some 40 people sparked a torrent of public criticism that authorities had compromised safety in their rush to expand the network.

China announced in March it was switching control of the railway ministry's administrative functions to the transport ministry and handing its commercial functions to a new China Railway Corporation.

Liu's trial comes as China's new leaders, President Xi and Premier Li Keqiang, have vowed to fight corruption, which the Communist Party has identified as a threat to its continued rule of the world's most populous country.

In January, Xi was quoted by state media as telling the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection -- the party's corruption watchdog -- that there would be "no leniency" against wrongdoing.

Last month, Xinhua reported that China is investigating a former top state planner for alleged "serious disciplinary violations" -- phrasing which typically refers to corruption cases.

Liu Tienan, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, was under investigation by the Communist Party agency tasked with probing corruption and other malpractice by party members and was dismissed from the party.

Bo Xilai, former party chief of the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing, is also expected to face trial for allegedly taking bribes and helping cover up the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood.

Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, was convicted last year of the murder and received a suspended death sentence, typically commuted to life in prison.