A new Chinese government investigation into a former healthcare official demonstrates China's continuing focus on anti-corruption enforcement in the life sciences industry.
On February 26, 2025, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China (CCDI, 中共中央纪律检查委员会 中华人民共和国国家监察委员会) announced that Shifei Chen (陈时飞), the former Deputy Director of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA, 国家药品监督管理局), is under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation carried out by the CCDI. The NMPA is China's healthcare regulator, serving a role similar to that of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The CCDI announced that Shifei Chen is under investigation for "serious violations of discipline and law," but did not disclose further details. The CCDI is China's central government body responsible for anti-corruption enforcement.
Shifei Chen served as the Deputy Director of the NMPA from September 2018 to August 2022, during which time he was primarily responsible for nationwide drug registration, evaluation, and approval, including overseeing the Center for Drug Evaluation (国家药品监督管理局药品审评中心). Shifei Chen also participated in the administration of the centralized procurement of drugs through volume-based purchasing while serving at the NMPA.
The investigation into Shifei Chen is the latest in a series of Chinese anti-corruption enforcement measures in the life sciences industry. Starting in 2024, multiple high-level government officials responsible for centralized purchasing of drugs and medical devices reportedly have been under investigation. These include Xue Gao (高雪), the former Director of the Centralized Procurement Office for High-value Medical Consumables, who was responsible for the volume-based purchasing of medical devices, and Ming Zhang (章明), the former Head of the Expert Group of Medicine Pricing and Bidding and the Procurement Guidance Center under the National Health Security Administration, who was responsible for the design of the centralized purchasing of drugs. At least three other government officials responsible for provincial drug administration have been investigated, tried, or sentenced for corruption-related issues.
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