Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of the State Food and Drug
Administration (SFDA), who was expelled from the Communist Party of
China (CPC) last month, has been accused of taking bribes of more
than 5 million yuan (about US$650,000).
Zheng's case, previously investigated by the CPC Central
Commission for Discipline Inspection, has been transferred to the
Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP). Zheng is locked up awaiting
trial, according to a report of the 21st Century Business
Herald.
The report said Zheng's relatives are also being investigated
for assets worth of millions of yuan which they could not account
for.
All of the bribes, including cash and gifts, came from
pharmaceutical companies, said the report.
The report mentioned a pharmaceutical company in south China's
Hainan Province, the Hainan Kongliyuan Group, which gave Zheng
bribes and paintings.
In return, the company acquired 277 approvals of medicines from
the SFDA, including more than 100 approvals in 2005. Most of the
medicines were antibiotics which could bring high profits for the
company.
The heads of the company have also been detained for
investigation, said the report.
Zheng first came under investigation by the CPC Central
Commission for Discipline Inspection in December last year.
Well-informed sources said that clues to Zheng's case were
discovered during an investigation of his subordinates.
Hao Heping, one of Zheng's former secretaries, was sentenced to
15 years in prison for bribery in November last year. Cao
Wenzhuang, another former secretary of Zheng, came under
investigation in January of last year.
Zheng was appointed director of the SFDA when it was created in
1998.
In 2002, China adopted national standards for approving
medicines. All new medicines have to be approved by the SFDA before
they can be put on the market.
Zheng also helped promote a certification system called Good
Manufacturing Practice (GMP), which was brought into disrepute by a
series of health scares and corruption scandals.?
(Xinhua News Agency April 8, 2007)
