China has announced that it is investigating several executives at state-owned property companies over allegations of “serious violations of discipline and law.”
The probes are another blow to a key sector, which is already struggling with slowing sales, angry customers and heavily indebted developers.
Authorities said in separate notices on Tuesday that they were investigating Zhuang Yuekai (莊躍凱), chairman of C&D Real Estate Corp (建發房地產), and Shi Zhen (施震), chairman of C&D Urban Services Co (建發城服發展).
Photo: AFP
They are also looking into Liu Hui (劉暉), deputy general manager of Shenzhen Talents Housing Group (深圳市才安居集團), and Tang Yong (唐勇), a former chairman at China Resources Land Ltd (華潤置地).
All four were “suspected of serious violations of discipline and law,” the notices said, providing few details.
However, the language used in the announcements typically indicates impending graft charges.
These investigations might “deal a further blow to investor confidence and cause market worries about the internal governance of some state-owned enterprises,” Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd analyst Ting Meng (孟婷) told Bloomberg News.
The investigations come ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress, at which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is widely expected to be anointed for an unprecedented third term.
Xi has championed an anti-corruption drive since coming to power, taking down big-name detractors, and observers expect him to use the months leading up to the meeting to cement his grip on power.
The probes follow a regulatory crackdown on some of China’s biggest tech firms.
Authorities have also in recent months announced investigations into figures in the semiconductor industry, including Chinese Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiao Yaqing (肖亞慶).
Regulatory heads, insurance giants, security officials and financiers have faced censure or prosecution under the anti-corruption drive, but it is rare for a minister to be targeted while still in office.
The vast majority of people who have been investigated for corruption in China were eventually convicted.
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