An Australian businessman jailed in China for white-collar crimes then transferred back to Australia to serve out his sentence has been freed.
Justice Minister Michael Keenan said Matthew Ng applied for early release from prison based on his exceptional family circumstances.
"I am satisfied exceptional circumstances exist to justify Mr Ng's early release from prison," he said in a statement.
Mr Ng was born in China, became an Australian citizen, then returned to China to run a tourism company.
He ran into strife after an acrimonious dispute with his Chinese business partner, facing charges of embezzlement, corruption, bribery and falsifying company records.
Among the allegations was that he offered a board seat to the principal of a company his firm took over. That's a standard western business practice, though Chinese authorities treated it as bribery.
In December 2011, he was jailed for 13 years, though that was subsequently reduced to 11 years and six months.
Mr Ng was returned to Australia in November 2014 to service out his sentence, the first Australian returned from China under a 2011 prisoner transfer agreement.
He was serving out his sentence at a jail in Muswellbrook, NSW.
Mr Keenan said he had approved his early release on licence.
He will still be required to comply with all licence conditions until the expiration of his original sentence.
