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Chinese regulators have issued updates on enforcement cases targeting former officials who had responsibility for the life sciences industry, including those who served in the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), which plays a role similar to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. These former officials were primarily responsible for regulatory matters, including drug evaluation and/or approval:
- On December 16, 2025, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China announced that it had confiscated illegal income from Wenming Yu, who previously served as the Director of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine from June 2018 to July 2023. Wenming Yu was transferred to the public procuratorate for investigation of potential criminal charges. The CCDI accused Wenming Yu of using his position to provide improper benefits, including assistance with drug registration, approval, and extension of product registration certificates.
- On December 8, 2025, the CCDI announced that Jingquan Bi, former Director of the NMPA from January 2015 to March 2018, had been expelled from the Communist Party and removed from public office for "serious violations of discipline and law." Specifically, Jingquan Bi was found to have accepted bribes,1 gifts, banquets, travel, and other arrangements that could have affected the impartial performance of his duties as a public official. In addition, Jingquan Bi had allowed others to pay for his personal expenses and used his position to provide improper benefits, including by helping others with unspecified "business operations." Jingquan Bi's misconduct is also being reviewed by the public procuratorate for potential criminal charges.
- On November 24, 2025, the Supreme People's Procuratorate announced that Shifei Chen, former Deputy Director of the NMPA from September 2018 to August 2022, had been arrested and charged with accepting bribes. According to the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Shifei Chen took advantage of his various government positions, including as Deputy Director of the NMPA, and accepted a large amount of bribes. The CCDI previously announced on July 30, 2025 that Shifei Chen was expelled from the Communist Party for other misconduct, including providing improper benefits by providing assistance in obtaining pharmaceutical manufacturing licenses.
In addition, the Model Cases On Punishing Corruption Crimes that Occur Around the People In Accordance With the Law, jointly released by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on December 9, 2025, discussed a county-level healthcare official who took advantage of his previous positions with the local healthcare security administration, and (1) falsified documents to claim medical insurance reimbursement totaling RMB 410,000 ($56,944); (2) helped others with project undertaking and software procurement, accepting bribes totaling RMB 180,000 ($25,000); and (3) misappropriated medical insurance funds totaling RMB 14,600,000 ($2,027,778) to purchase financial products. The official was sentenced to six years in prison and was fined RMB 250,000 ($34,722).
For questions on this or any other subject, please reach out to the authors or any of their colleagues in Arnold & Porter's Life Sciences or White Collar Defense & Investigations practice group.
Zhewen Zhang contributed to this Blog.
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