The Higher People's Court in northeastern China's Liaoning Province has upheld a 15-year sentence for a former drug official who was convicted of embezzlement and bribery.

Zhang Shusen, 63, former director of the Food and Drug Administration of Liaoning Province, was sentenced to 15 years last October for embezzling 300,000 yuan (US$42,974) in public funds and taking bribes of more than 400,000 yuan, under the ruling by an intermediate people's court in Panjin City.

Zhang appealed to the province's higher people's court, claiming that the punishment was "too harsh" and that he had "confessed his crime." But the higher people's court upheld the ruling, and Zhang's jail term has begun.

The court said the food and drug administration accepted 3 million yuan in donations in August 2000 to renovate its office building.

One month later, the head of the administration's general affairs office, surnamed Mei, took 300,000 yuan from the donation under the direction of Zhang in the name of payment for renovation of the office building. Zhang pocketed the money.

In June 2006, Zhang interfered in a case involving a Jilin Province-based medicine company selling counterfeit medicines. Zhang got 50,000 yuan in exchange for mitigating the company's punishment. He also took bribes from medicine producers as well as subordinates who asked for promotion, the court heard.

Last July, Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of China's State Food and Drug Administration, was executed for taking 6.49 million yuan in bribes and dereliction of duty. Zheng was considered one of the highest-profile bribe cases over the past five years.

(Shanghai Daily April 24, 2008)