HONG KONG, July 10 (RIA Novosti) - The former head of China's State Food and Drug Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, sentenced to death in May for taking bribes, has been executed, the Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday.
Xiaoyu had appealed the sentence, calling it too severe, but the appeal was rejected in June, and a court ruled that he was guilty of receiving bribes totaling $832,000 over several years and abuse of office.
Earlier it was reported that Xiaoyu took bribes for approving the production of drugs that had not passed clinical tests.
Authorities had to check all 170,000 licenses issued while Zheng was in his post as administration head.
China has seen several scandals connected with low-quality drugs and foodstuffs in the past two years, and many countries have pulled Chinese products ranging from toothpaste to pet food.
