The South China Morning Post quoted official statements by the court saying, “the sentence was appropriate because of ‘the huge bribes involved and the great damage inflicted on the country and the public by Zheng’s dereliction of duty.”

The South China Morning Post noted that the unusually harsh sentence came amid a growing number of reports of international food safety and phoney pharmaceutical cases that have turned the world’s attention to China’s poorly regulated monitoring system. For example, The New York Times cited a case where “two Chinese companies were accused earlier this year of shipping contaminated pet food ingredients to the United States, resulting in one of the largest pet food recalls in American history.”

An editorial by a “specially commissioned commentator” in the party’s official paper indicated that Zheng’s sentence was a warning to other party officials. China Daily reprinted the admonition: “As a case study of a party member and leading official breaking the law and committing crime, the Zheng Xiaoyu case offers profound lessons that all public servants, especially leading officials at ever level, should take to heart.” The paper also suggested that the commentary may have been issued on behalf of national leaders.