During Zheng Xiaoyu's tenure as head of the State Food and Drug Administration from 1997 to 2006, the agency approved six medicines that turned out to be fake, and the drug makers used falsified documents to apply for approvals, according to previous state media reports. One antibiotic caused the deaths of at least 10 people.

His execution was confirmed by state television and Xinhua News Agency.

''The few corrupt officials of the SFDA are the shame of the whole system and their scandals have revealed some very serious problems,'' agency spokeswoman Yan Jiangying said at a news conference held to highlight efforts to improve China's track record on food and drug safety.

But by the looks of China's ever-expanding trade surplus, the world is not ready to wean itself from its dependency on Chinese products, despite reports of tainted toothpaste, fish laced with antibiotics, tires missing a key safety feature and toys with lead paint.

The ''Made in China'' label has become ubiquitous, helping to push the country's trade surplus in June to a new monthly high as foreign consumers bought electrical appliances, clothing, low-cost furniture and other products the world has come to depend on China to supply.

The June trade surplus jumped more than 85 percent to $26.9 billion from the same period last year, the General Administration of Customs said Tuesday on its Web site.

Zheng, 63, was convicted of taking cash and gifts worth $832,000 when he was in charge of the State Food and Drug Administration.

His death sentence was unusually heavy even for China, believed to carry out more court-ordered executions than all other nations combined, and indicates the leadership's determination to confront the country's dire product safety record.