British GSK investigator on trial in China

A British investigator and his wife are being tried in China for illegally trafficking personal data, the BBC reported.

Peter Humphrey and his American wife Yu Yingzeng were arrested in August 2013.

They are accused of illegally obtaining Chinese citizens' personal information and selling it to China-based multinational corporations, including GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) China.

GSK China, which is being investigated for possible bribery, hired Mr Humphrey last year.

The trial is taking place at the Number One Intermediate Court in Shanghai. Information about proceedings is being released on its official microblog.

"Generally speaking... I don't dispute (the prosecutor's indictment)," the official microblog quoted Mr Humphrey as telling the court.

Ahead of the trial Mr Humphrey, a former journalist, and his wife have been held at a detention centre in Shanghai. His son, Harry Humphrey, told the BBC last week that his parents appeared well.

Prosecutors say the couple on trial "illegally trafficked a huge amount of personal information on Chinese citizens." They obtained this information by "secret photography, infiltration or tailing after someone."

Chinese authorities have not made an explicit link between this case and the GSK probe.