GSK-linked investigators stand trial in China – closely watched case
A British investigator and his American wife will stand trial in Shanghai on Friday in a case that is seen as key to a bribery investigation against GlaxoSmithKline Plc.
Peter Humphrey and his colleague and wife Yu Yingzeng, who were detained following work they did for the British pharmaceutical giant, face charges of illegally obtaining private information on Chinese citizens.
Their arrest sent shivers through the country’s risk consultancy community, whose members are much in demand by multinationals and foreign investors for information on potential partners or firms in China.
The court case, which also coincides with a growing number of Chinese anti-trust probes that have seen authorities raid offices of Western firms, highlights the obstacles foreign companies face in navigating China’s murky business world.
A GSK spokesman declined to comment on the trial. The drug maker said in July that the issues relating to its China business were “very difficult and complicated.”
China has in recent years moved to tighten its privacy laws. In 2009, it amended its criminal code to ban the transfer, sale or gathering of Chinese citizens’ information by government firms and companies involved in telecoms, transportation, education and medical treatment.
Source: Reuters
