BEIJING - China's former top drug regulator went on trial Wednesday accused of taking bribes to approve untested medicine, including an antibiotic that killed at least 10 patients last year before it was taken off the market.

Zheng Xiaoyu [cnsphoto/file]

The case is one of several that have damaged confidence at home and abroad in China's commitment to ensuring its products are safe.

Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of the State Food and Drug Administration, is on trial in Beijing's No. 1 Intermediate Court, said a court official who gave his name only as Wang.

He refused to discuss the trial beyond confirming its start.

Zheng was fired in 2005 on charges he took up to $780,000 in bribes to approve medicine that had not been tested to ensure its safety. He was expelled earlier this year from the ruling Communist Party.

State media have reported that drugs improperly approved by Zheng's agency included an antibiotic that killed at least 10 patients last year before it was taken off the market.

The official Xinhua News Agency said earlier that prosecutors had charged Zheng with dereliction of duty, taking bribes and leading a "dissolute life."

Zheng has not commented publicly on the charges.

Zheng's case prompted a sweeping investigation of the Chinese drug industry. Authorities ordered a review of 170,000 drug licenses, most of them granted in 1999-2002, when Zheng was in office.