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By John Ruwitch
SHANGHAI, June 9 (Reuters) - A British corporateinvestigator linked to a bribery scandal involving drugmakerGlaxoSmithKline PLC has been told he will be releasedearly from a 2-1/2 year prison sentence in China, a person closeto his family said on Tuesday.
Peter Humphrey and his American wife, Yu Yingzeng, weresentenced in August last year for illegally obtaining privaterecords of Chinese citizens and selling the information on toclients including GSK.
The person, who declined to be identified, said Humphrey wasinformed on Tuesday by a Shanghai court that his sentence wouldbe reduced by seven months. He had originally been expected tobe released in January next year.
Humphrey is in a Shanghai hospital undergoing tests relatedto a health condition and the British consulate is processing anemergency passport for him, so he can be deported once he isreleased from hospital, the person said.
It was not clear when Humphrey would officially be released.
A spokesman for the British consulate in Shanghai declinedto make any immediate comment on the matter.
Yu, who was sentenced to two years in jail, will be releasedin coming weeks.
Two lawyers who had acted for Humphrey and Yu last year saidthey were not aware of the decision.
Humphrey and Yu, who ran risk consultancy ChinaWhys, weredetained in 2013 following work they did for Britain's GSK,which was fined $489 million in China last year for payingbribes to doctors to use its drugs.
President Xi Jinping will travel to Britain for a statevisit in October, 10 years after the last such visit by aChinese president. (Additional reporting by Brenda Goh; Writing by Adam Jourdan;Editing by Robert Birsel)
