BEIJING -- An U.S. woman has been jailed for life on charges of defrauding Chinese state banks of $24 million, a newspaper said Wednesday.

Li Xiaoyuan was convicted by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court of defrauding two banks in 1997-98 using forged letters of credit, the Beijing Times said. It said an accomplice, You Weijian, was sentenced to 12 years.

The report didn't say when Li and You were arrested or when the trial took place. It said Li was an American of Chinese ancestry, but didn't say where she was born.