ChinaBio Today submits: The execution of former head of the Chinese FDA, Zheng Xiaoyu, for bribery was the big story last week in the world of Chinese biotech (see story). To Americans, the story was shocking, both because death sentences are not meted out for white collar crimes in the U.S., and because of the speed with which the sentence was carried out.

How long does the average prisoner sit on death row in the U.S.? While Zheng appealed the sentence (though not the verdict), the appeal was heard in six weeks time, and Zheng was summarily executed immediately after the decision was handed down. A written confession from Zheng was published, in which he admitted actions that led the deaths of at least 10 individuals.

All of this takes place against the backdrop of the Olympics, scheduled for next summer. The Olympics were supposed to showcase China as a member of the group of fully modernized nations, but the scandals, together with the various unsafe food additive and consumer product brouhahas, make the country seem more third-world.

In a public relations counter-offensive, China was careful to make a well-publicized show of remedial steps this week (see story), stepping up regulation of food and drug makers, establishing new rules for the State Food and Drug Administration, and continuing to reject products from the U.S. (including frozen chicken from no less than Tyson Foods (TSN) – the nerve!) to show that the West is perhaps not as pure as it likes to portray itself.

In an article (subscription required), The Wall Street Journal casts the call for heavy-duty regulation of Chinese imports as part of a general unease in the U.S. about the growing dependence upon Chinese products, rather than a concern that is just about the safety of products. The Journal argues, much as we have (see story), that companies must be careful about what they sell, because their livelihood depends upon the products. Even though the ingredients come from elsewhere, a maker of toothpaste puts its reputation on the line with each individual tube. Strangling imports – by passing legislation that prohibits the importation of any fish whatsoever, for example – is overkill and counter-productive.

Meanwhile, published somewhere below the headlines, results from investments made in the second quarter show that more and more deals are getting done in China (see story). More money was raised, more money was invested, and more exits were made. This was true for all industries, and biotech contributed its part. There is every indication that the numbers will continue to grow. This is not a bubble.

Given the financial logic of biotech investing in China, and the high quality of work that is available there, China biotech and its American counterpart are bound to be drawn closer together. The safety scandals are a hiccup, widely discussed in the headlines, but the investment numbers show that the business relationship between China and the U.S. will become increasingly intertwined. Contentions will surface – maybe more, maybe less frequently -- but the underlying movement will be to coalesce. After all, the 21st century is supposed to be the century of biology and of China, and the U.S. does not want to miss out on that.