Ex-official at health commission arrested

The former vice director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning has been arrested for accepting bribes in his previous position at a local hospital, local media reported Thursday.

The Shanghai Municipal Prosecutor's Office announced Wednesday that it has signed off on the arrest of the former official, Huang Fengping.

Huang, 48, has been under investigation since September on suspicion that he accepted bribes related to procurement when he worked at the Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, according to a report in the 21st Century Business Herald.

Several anonymous sources familiar with the case said that the arrest was likely connected to a bribery case involving the multinational pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, according to the report. They also said that several of Huang's close relatives worked for the company.

Huang's name has been removed from several official websites, the report said.

His last public appearance was at an event on September 13 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of a medical aid program that sends physicians overseas.

Huang was a well-known neurosurgeon who earned a postdoctoral degree in neurosurgery from the University of Michigan in 2000. He went to work at Huashan Hospital after he returned to China.

He became the health commission's vice director in May 2012.