THE former head of the city’s prehospital care center is being investigated by the Futian District People’s Procuratorate over charges of bribery and corruption, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Saturday.

The official, surnamed Zhang, obtained a doctorate in 1991 and had worked as an expert at the Chinese Health Information Standardization Society and the National Electronic Medical Record Steering Committee since 2005. He had been one of the WHO’s 25 global e-Health consultants since 2008, the report said.

Ever since he began working as the director and Party chief of the city’s prehospital care center in 2010, Zhang had been interviewed by Shenzhen local media every now and then. The center’s website now shows that its director and Party chief positions are both currently vacant.

An earlier article on the official website of the city’s health and family planning commission noted that Zhang had been honored as an “Outstanding Guangdong Party Worker” in June last year. He was described as a paragon who was “brave, responsible and innovative” in the article.

Zhang is being held under criminal detention. The investigation of the case continues.

According to another Southern Metropolis Daily report, Yang, a manager who had worked at a Shenzhen Metro Group branch company, is also being held under criminal detention by the Qianhai procuratorate over charges of taking bribes. The investigation of the case is ongoing.

(Zhang Yang)