Peter Humphrey trial: everything you need to know

Who would do that?

GlaxoSmithKline suspected a former employee, Vivian Shi, who had left the company under a cloud the previous December for allegedly falsifying her travel expenses.

Ms Shi, a well-connected Chinese businesswomen with links to the Shanghai authorities, was also suspected of being the source of a series of anonymous whistleblower emails alleging large scale bribery at GSK, which the company had been receiving since the start of last year.

What have Humphrey and Yingzeng been accused of?

They were arrested in July 2013 and held for a full year without charge. At the time they appeared on state television in an apparent confession to the allegations. This move may win them more leniency in court, but Mr Humphrey, who suffers from arthritis and other health problems, has complained of terrible conditions in prison.

The couple were then formally accused of "illegally obtaining private information" last month.

Their arrest came shortly after Chinese police detained four of GSK's China managers on the same allegations contained in the whistleblower's emails: that the company had paid up to £300m in bribes to doctors and officials to win sales.

Do the allegations relate to the work they did for GSK?

The charges have not officially been linked to ChinaWhys' GlaxoSmithKline investigation, but Humphrey has blamed the company for his current plight .

He says GSK deliberately hid the seriousness of the whistleblower allegations. When he was first hired by the company he was told there was no reason to believe the claims. However weeks later, after Chinese police took the allegations public, the drug company admitted that it had in fact unearthed evidence of wrongdoing.

In its defence, GSK has said it did not hire ChinaWhys to investigate the emails, but Humphrey says he nonetheless feels "cheated" by the company.

What about the police investigation into GSK?

The Chinese investigation into GSK is ongoing, and while they have made various allegations, no trial date has been set for the four employees that were arrested last year. GSK has said it is cooperating with the investigation and has also commissioned an independent investigation by US law firm Ropes & Gray. It has also maintained that any bribery was carried out by rogue employees.

And what about Mark Reilly?

Mr Reilly is currently under a travel ban in China to "help" police with their investigations and in May was accused of ordering his staff to carry out bribery .

He is still employed by GSK but has lost his role as GSK's China boss, which has been filled by Herve Gisserot, formerly vice president of the company's European business.

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