Five Chinese SFDA officials arrested for taking bribes

Five officials from China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) have been arrested on charges of taking bribes, only three years after its former head was executed for the same offence, reported the Shanghai Daily. Another official was ordered by investigators to stay at home pending results of the investigation.

Of the five arrested officials, Wei Liang was the first to be given double designation status in the investigation, which is still undergoing and may take in more officials, a well-informed source told the newspaper. Double designation is when a Party official is ordered to answer allegations of disciplinary violations or corruption at a designated time and place.

Mr Wei used to be a senior clerk in the bio-products division of the SFDA's drug registration department, which mainly deals with setting national standards and registering bio-products including vaccines and blood products.