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China’s health system anti-corruption drive nets another senior official in Guizhou
- Guizhou Provincial Health Commission party chief Yang Hui joins a growing list of leaders under graft probes in a system plagued by kickbacks
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Xinlu Liangin Beijing
A senior health official in the southern Chinese province of Guizhou has been placed under investigation as China continued a crackdown on medical sector corruption.
Yang Hui, 51, the party chief of the Guizhou provincial health commission, is being probed for “serious violations of discipline and laws”, according to the provincial commission for discipline inspection and supervision, the local anti-corruption watchdog.
No details of her alleged crimes were released but “serious violations of discipline and laws” is a widely used euphemism by authorities for corruption or political mistakes.
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The investigation is part of a broader campaign against corruption in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, which received billions of US dollars worth of public funds during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last August, Beijing launched a crackdown on the misuse of funds, rent-seeking by management, pharmaceutical sales bribery, dubious medical ethics, and other abuses that have long plagued hospitals and driven up medical costs. Rent-seeking is the practice of manipulating public policy or economic conditions for financial gain.
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According to a tally by the China News Service, more than 300 hospital chiefs and party secretaries have been investigated or disciplined for corruption in the medical sector since January 2023, with a significant number of cases involving embezzlement, bribery and abuse of power.
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