Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of China's State Food and Drug
Administration (SFDA), is scheduled to go on trial in a Beijing
court on Wednesday.
Zheng was appointed director of the SFDA when it was created in
1998. He was removed from the post in June 2005.
In 2002, China adopted national standards for approving
medicines. All new medicines had to be approved by the SFDA before
they could be put on the market.
Zheng promoted a certification system called Good Manufacturing
Practice (GMP), which was brought into disrepute by a series of
health scares and corruption scandals.
He came under investigation by the Communist Party of China
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in December 2006 and
was expelled from the Communist Party in March 2007.
(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2007)