A court in Beijing has handed down a death sentence on Zheng Xiaoyu, the former head of the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration. He was found guilty of taking ¥6.5m (£0.4m; €0.6m; $0.9m) in bribes and gifts and of dereliction of duty for failing to ensure the safety of drugs and devices that were approved during his tenure.

Court documents quoted by China's state news agency, Xinhua, say that Mr Zheng pleaded guilty to charges that he “sought benefits” from eight domestic drug companies in exchange for approval of drugs and medical devices between June 1997 and December 2006. In addition, six drugs granted approval on the basis of …