In 2024, the number of cases involving non-financial state-owned enterprises will also increase, with six top executives of state-owned enterprises being investigated (up from three last year). Among them is Tan Ruishong, former chairman of the China Aviation Industry Corporation.
Dozens of top aviation and defense industry executives and former executives have also come under investigation over the past year, including Zhu Zhimong, head of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.
Zhu previously served as head of the Shanghai Aerospace Administration, a research and development hub for rockets and missiles. The case followed a corruption investigation into the bureau’s former deputy secretary, Dai Shanglun.
Last December, three senior aerospace and defense executives were also expelled from the country’s top political advisory body.
President Xi Jinping’s large-scale anti-corruption campaign, which has been underway since late 2012, has the military in its sights, and the crackdown is being carried out by the People’s Liberation Army’s anti-corruption watchdog. Officials from the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, which oversees nuclear weapons, have been in the spotlight since last year.
In the most recent incident, Miao Hua, head of ideological affairs at the Central Military Commission, was suspended last month and is being investigated for “serious violations of discipline.”
In June, the Chinese government announced that former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe were being investigated on corruption charges and had been expelled from the party and stripped of their military ranks.
Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, said Mr. Xi was purging both buyers and sellers of China’s defense industry.
“His Military Discipline Inspector General has dismissed several senior generals, and the CCDI, which oversees civilian officials, is cracking down on defense state-owned enterprises,” Wu said. “This year has been the most intense year of military repression, and there is no end in sight.”
Deng Xiaoping said state-owned enterprises are also in the crosshairs because of their role in the Chinese government’s push for technological independence and strategic projects, and because they are major employers in a struggling economy. Ta.
This year, four state bank executives were investigated for corruption, compared to eight in 2023. However, none of this year’s banking industry “tigers” are at the top level.
Last year, the financial world was shocked by the ouster of Li Xiaopeng and Tang Shuangning, former presidents of Everbright Bank of China, and Liu Liangge, former president of Bank of China.
This year also saw several young political stars embroiled in corruption investigations, including former Qinghai provincial security chief Yang Hwasen, Beijing vice mayor Gao Peng, and former Tibetan government deputy chief Wang Yong. .
This article was first published on SCMP
