The former head of China’s Food and Drug Administration found guilty of taking bribes to licence fake drugs has been executed. Lindsey Hilsum reports on the deadly trade. The execution is a dramatic show of the Chinese government’s determination to rescue its reputation after a series of scandals involving unsafe products. Last year 10 people died after taking fake antibiotics in Eastern China; more recently attention has turned to counterfeit drugs and contaminated foods exported around the world. The World Health Organisation estimates that 10 per cent of drugs in circulation are counterfeit – with China the biggest source. Often officials turn a blind eye to back street factories and Zheng Xiaoyu’s rapid execution was a message from the central government to Chinese and foreign consumers who worry that medicines made in China could be ineffective or even lethal. Tan Jiangying of the State food and drug administration said: ‘The few corrupt officials of the State Food and Drug Administration are the shame of the whole system and their scandals have revealed some very serious problems. ‘I think we need to reflect seriously on what lessons we can draw from such cases. We should […]