By staff reporter Wang Heyan

The former deputy administrator of the Department of Foreign Investment at the Ministry of Commerce has been detained for accepting bribes, according to a source close to the issue. Deng Zhan, 61, was recently put under “double regulation,” or shuanggui, which allows the Party as well as the public courts to discipline an individual.

Deng’s arrest seems to be linked to Guo Jingyi, a former official at the Department of Treaty and Law at the Ministry of Commerce, who was detained in August for corruption and bribery.

At the time Guo was arrested, Deng was sick and required medical treatment. For this reason, he was initially spared detention and kept under strict surveillance instead. But as the investigation into Guo’s case deepened, authorities turned up sufficient evidence to warrant Deng’s arrest. Prosecutors detained Deng from his hospital room.

After graduating from Beijing Science University, Deng entered the Ministry of Commerce where he specialized in foreign investment. He is described as good-looking and charming by his coworkers, and has been praised for his skills and knowledge regarding foreign business by leaders in the ministry. Deng is one of the very few officials in the ministry who is not a party member. Both his wife and his daughter now live abroad.

The focus of Deng’s work at the ministry involved drafting laws and regulations for foreign investment, and it is through this aspect that Deng’s case connects to Guo Jingyi. While Deng served at the Department of Foreign Investment, he had frequent contact with two Beijing-based attorneys, Zhang Yudong and Liu Yang, both of whom were arrested with Guo Jingyi in August.

The law firm where Zhang and Liu practiced, named Sifeng, was formerly attached to Ministry of Commerce. The firm claims to provide legal services to more than half of the 200 foreign investment firms in China, but according to lawyers who are familiar with Sifeng, their main business is to obtain regulatory approval for acquisition filings from foreign investors.

This kind of approval must go through several authority agencies, of which the Ministry of Commerce is most important. Critical decisions are made in its two departments, namely the Department of Foreign Investment and the Department of Treaty and Law. Deng and Guo both served in key positions at these departments.

According to an insider who asked that his name not be revealed, Deng accepted bribes from Zhang in the form of property in exchange for his assistance with securing approval for foreign acquisitions. Deng’s daughter’s expenses in the U.S. were also taken care of by foreign enterprises, according to the source. The names of these companies were not revealed.