In a recent development, the widely known Changchun vaccine scandal from years back resurfaced as the former chairman of Changsheng Bio-Technology, Gao Junfang, lost his appeal in the second trial, upholding the original conviction on four charges and sentencing him to life imprisonment. Before the case erupted in 2018, Gao Junfang had been implicated in various illegal activities, yet his status remained unscathed, with his support often linked to the former Chairman of the NPC Zhang Dejiang.
According to a report by “Economic Observer” on September 21, the Intermediate People’s Court of Changchun City in Jilin Province handed down a verdict in January this year, following which Gao Junfang and others appealed to the Higher People’s Court of Jilin Province. The Higher Court recently upheld the original judgment in the second trial.
During the initial trial on January 30th this year, Gao Junfang was found guilty of producing and selling counterfeit products, taking bribes as a non-public official, embezzlement of funds, and bribery on behalf of an entity. Following the combined convictions on the four charges, the court decided to impose a life sentence and confiscate all of Gao Junfang’s personal assets. Gao Junfang’s husband, former director and vice president of Changsheng Bio-Technology, Zhang Youkui, was convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to six years in prison. Several employees of Changsheng Bio-Technology were also sentenced to prison terms.
Changsheng Bio-Technology was once a leading producer of rabies vaccines in mainland China. In July 2018, authorities discovered acts of falsifying records during the vaccine production, leading to the company being ordered to cease production and revoke its drug GMP certificate. Former real estate journalist Zhang Yuqun, in an article titled “Vaccine King,” exposed irregularities in the vaccine industry through self-media, sparking public attention.
Public records show that Gao Junfang, born in October 1954, previously worked as a staff member and finance director at Changchun Biological Products Research Institute. Her husband Zhang Youkui also worked at the institute and served as the deputy director of the personnel department.
In 1992, Changchun Biological Products Research Institute (Changsheng Institute), Changchun High-Tech Applied Research Institute (Changchun High-Tech Institute), and the Marketing Department of Changchun Biological Products Research Institute Biological Technology Service Center (Changsheng Institute Marketing Department) jointly established Changchun Changsheng.
Changchun Changsheng, originally a state-owned entity, gradually transformed from state management to private ownership under the control of the Gao Junfang family around 2006.
At the end of 2015, Changchun Changsheng was listed on the stock exchange by pricing all its equity at 5.5 billion yuan by backdooring with Huang Hai Machinery. The listed company was later renamed Changsheng Bio-Technology. In the 2017 Forbes China Top 400 Rich List, the Gao Junfang family ranked 371st with assets of 6.7 billion yuan.
Throughout these years, Changsheng Bio-Technology had been involved in multiple illegal activities, yet Gao Junfang managed to remain as the “Vaccine Queen.” Radio Free Asia once quoted Ren Ruihong, former head of the Chinese Red Cross Medical Assistance Department, stating that Changsheng Bio-Technology had been able to operate smoothly for over a decade due to the protection of a national-level power umbrella.
Radio Free Asia’s special contributor Gao Xin commented that the former Chairman of the NPC in Jilin Province, Zhang Dejiang, had played a significant role in Gao Junfang’s rise to power. The article mentioned that the portraits of Jiang Zemin and the company’s leaders that had long been displayed in the lobby of Gao Junfang’s family company (Changchun Changsheng) as well as online photos of Zhang Dejiang with the company’s leaders were later removed under instructions from higher authorities.