Mark Reilly, GlaxoSmithKline's former head of operations in China, remains in China while investigators look into claims that the pharmaceutical giant dispensed up to $490M in bribes to doctors and hospital managers to persuade them to prescribe its drugs.
GSK claims that Reilly is voluntarily assisting anti-bribery authorities in China and is not being detained by Chinese authorities.
However, UK news sources paint a different picture, claiming that Reilly is barred from leaving China and being held in a hotel room in the central city of Changsha.
Sources report that the investigation into GSK has now been put under the direct control of Li Keqiang, the Chinese prime minister.