China has freed a British investigator who works for the GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceutical company on Tuesday after being detained a couple of years ago. He was sentenced to serve two years and a half in jail, but family and friends said he was released seven months earlier.

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Peter Humphrey was released by Shanghai authorities on Tuesday morning. He was brought to the hospital for a health check up and once the results are in, he will be provided with an emergency passport and will be deported back to Britain. An anonymous friend told Sky News that he might have been released because he is believed to have cancer.

According to the New York Times, Humphrey was arrested in 2013 because he worked for Glaxo at the time when the company was accused by the Chinese government of fraud and corruption. A fine of almost $500 million was issued to the company while one of its executives based in China, Mark Reilly, was charged with wrongdoing. However, the authorities suspended his sentence of three years and had him deported.

British officials have issued a statement regarding the notification from China that a British national has been released. The statement said that consular assistance is being provided to the ex-inmate's family. However, they did not reveal his identity to the public.

Humphrey's family also released a statement saying that his son, who attends a university in Britain, said that he was stunned yet delighted and is hoping to see his parents soon.

Based on a report by BBC News, Humphrey's wife, Yu Yingzeng, was also arrested and sentenced to two years imprisonment after she too was found guilty of illegally buying background information and for bribery. She will be released on July 11.

During their trial in August last year, the couple admitted to buying identity records issued by the government as well as other information such as travel documents and phone records through their investigative firm, ChinaWhys.

Glaxo hired the company to investigate on Reilly's wrongdoing and to help identify the person who sent emails, documents, and copies of his sex tapes to the company's executives and board members.

TagsChina frees Briton, China free British, China free Humphrey, Briton freed by China, British freed by China, GlaxoSmithKline, Peter Humphrey