China's Jilin province government removed its food and drug safety head

BEIJING: China's Jilin provincial government has removed the head of its food and drug safety body as well as the agency's two deputy heads, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday, amid a scandal over faulty vaccines that triggered public outrage.

The Xinhua report did not state the reasons for the dismissal of Guo Hongzhi, head of the provincial food and drug safety body, or two deputies at the agency.

But dozens of public officials have either resigned or been dismissed in the wake of scandal at vaccine maker Changsheng Bio-technology Co Ltd, which Chinese authorities said made nearly 500,000 sub-standard vaccines for children. Changsheng is based in the city of Changchun in Jilin province.

The mayor of Changchun resigned on Tuesday and the head of the city's food and drug administration has been removed from his post, the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily reported on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)