Cai Xiyou (蔡希有), president of Sinochem Group (中國中化集團), the Chinese energy and chemicals conglomerates, has been put under investigation for serious discipline violations, China’s main anti-corruption agency said on Saturday, using the usual euphemism for graft.
The Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) published a one-line statement on its Web site on Saturday, providing no other details about Cai’s suspected wrongdoing.
Cai, a 30-year oil industry veteran, was named to lead Sinochem in 2014, after a long career at China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec, 中國石油化工) where he was previously a Communist Party committee member, senior vice president and Sinopec Corp’s general consul.
In October last year, Cai also was named chairman and non-exeuctive director of Hong Kong-listed China Jinmao Holdings Group Ltd (中國金茂控股集團), a Sinochem Group real-estate subsidiary.
Sinochem Group, formerly China’s monopoly oil trader until 1993, has diversified businesses in oil refining, chemicals trading, oil and gas explorations and real estate development.
Cai is the latest state-owned enterprise executive to be caught in ruling the Communist Party’s investigations into corruption. In December last year, CCDI said it was investigating Chang Xiaobing (常小兵), the chairman of state-run China Telecom Corp Ltd (中國電信), for alleged disciplinary violations. He later resigned.
China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd (中國聯通香港) executive director Zhang Junan (張鈞安) is being questioned as part of an investigation of Chang, people familiar with the situation said on Saturday.
Authorities are also probing Zhang, though that does not mean he has necessarily committed any wrongdoing, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the matter has not been publicly announced.
China Unicom spokesman Ivan Wong (王家俊) said by e-mail that Zhang was cooperating with authorities in the investigation of Chang. Zhang has not been placed under shuanggui (雙規), Wong said, referring to a form of detention used in probes by the Communist Party that is outside China’s legal system.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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