China’s top anti-graft authority yesterday announced an investigation into the chairman of China Telecom Corp (中國電信), the latest high-ranking official to be taken down in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) campaign to weed out corruption in the Chinese Communist Party.
Chang Xiaobing (常小兵) is under investigation for suspected “severe discipline violations,” according to a statement from the the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. It did not detail possible infractions by Chang, but the phrase typically means corruption.
Chang has only been chairman and chief executive officer of China Telecom, the country’s third-largest wireless carrier, since September, when he moved over from China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd (中國聯通) as part of a leadership reshuffle that coincided with government plans for sweeping reforms to a US$16 trillion government-owned sector.
Xi’s campaign has pursued graft in state-owned enterprises along with the finance industry following a US$5 trillion stocks rout earlier this year.
In October, Jiang Jiemin (蔣潔敏), former chairman of China’s biggest oil producer PetroChina Co (中石油), was sentenced to 16 years in prison for taking bribes and abuse of power.
Chang had been chairman of China Unicom, China’s second-largest wireless carrier, for 11 years, an annual report showed.
China Telecom executives on Saturday received notice that an annual meeting scheduled to be held in Beijing today had been postponed, Caijing reported, citing several company executives it did not identify. Telephone calls to Chang’s cellphone were not answered as it was switched off, the report said.
China Telecom’s investor relations staff in Hong Kong said they could not immediately comment.
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