Zhang Jingli: Deputy drug supervision head dismissed for Corruption

According to the official news on June 13, Zhang Jingli was removed from the deputy head of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) due to serious violation against laws and regulations.

Zhang Jingli visited Guangxi to inspect the drug and food safety problems there. This was the last time he appeared in the media. Born in June 1955, Zhang joined in work in December 1970. He once served in the army, majored in health and logistics. He was promoted to the deputy director of the SFDA in October 2003.

Previously, five officials of the SFDA were arrested due to embezzlement and bribery. Wei Liang, one of the five officials, was arrested in December 2009. He was accused of accepting dirty money amounting to millions of yuan.

In May 2007, Zheng Xiaoyu, then head of the SFDA was sentenced to death for bribery. He was the highest ranked official in the drug supervision department who was sentenced to death from the foundation of the People’s Republic of China.

When Zheng Xiaoyu stayed in the head of the SFDA from 1997 to 2006, he accepted bribes of 64.9 million yuan (USD 9.53 million) and had malpractices in the approval of drugs and medical devices. Not only Zheng Xiaoyu, but also a large amount of his underlings, were involved in that case.