GSK-linked investigator freed early from China jail - source

(Adds British consulate statement, GSK no comment, context)

By John Ruwitch

SHANGHAI, June 9 (Reuters) - A British corporate investigator linked to a bribery scandal in China involving drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC (Other OTC: GLAXF - news) is to be released early from a 2 1/2-year sentence in a Chinese jail, a source close to his family said on Tuesday.

Peter Humphrey and his American wife, Yu Yingzeng, were sentenced in August last year for illegally obtaining private records of Chinese citizens and selling the information on to clients including GSK.

The source, who declined to be identified, said Humphrey had been informed on Tuesday by a Shanghai court that his sentence would be reduced by seven months. He had originally been expected to be released in January next year.

The case was intertwined with an investigation of GSK in China which rocked the country's pharmaceutical market and led to a $489 million fine against the firm last year for paying bribes to doctors to use its drugs.

Humphrey is in a Shanghai hospital undergoing tests and the British consulate is processing an emergency passport for him, so he can be deported once he is released from hospital, the source said.

It was not clear when Humphrey would officially be released. Yu, who was sentenced to two years in jail, will be freed in coming weeks.

"We have been notified by the Chinese authorities that a British national detained in China has been released. We are providing consular assistance to the family," a spokesman for the British consulate in Shanghai said.

Humphrey and Yu, who ran risk consultancy ChinaWhys, had been asked by GSK to compile a report into the origins of a sex video involving its former China head Mark Reilly, which had been sent to senior executives at the British firm along with anonymous emails alleging corruption.

On July 10, 2013, Chinese authorities detained Humphrey and Yu. Days later police accused GSK of funnelling up to 3 billion yuan ($482 million) through travel agencies to bribe doctors and officials in China.

A UK-based spokesman for GSK declined to comment on the reports that the couple are to be freed. Two lawyers who acted for Humphrey and Yu last year said they were not aware of the decision.

President Xi Jinping will travel to Britain for a state visit in October, 10 years after the last such visit by a Chinese president. (Additional reporting by Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Ben Hirschler in London; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Andrew Roche)