Bloomberg reported that the chairman of China Resources Holdings Co is under investigation by the Chinese anti-corruption agency after local media repeated accusations that a unit of the state-owned company overpaid coal assets deliberately. Using language that reportedly indicate a corruption probe, China Resources Chairman Song Lin is being investigated for suspected disciplinary violations.
The news agency said that the probe on Song signaled how intense the Communist Party is cleaning out corruption that Chinese President Xi Jinping has credited it as a threat to its six-decade hold on power. Party leaders have vowed to target even the big fish over graft.
China Daily said Song was reported by a journalist at a newspaper owned by the official Xinhua news agency. Song immediately issued a statement of denial, claiming that the accusations hurled against him were a complete fabrication.
Song's company is the parent of five units listed in HongKong, of which one of them is China Resources Power Holdings Co. Last year China Resources Power Holdings was accused of overpaying to acquire three coal mines located in Shanxi province in 2010.
Beijing News noted today that the statement Song has issued regarding the accusations has been retracted. Attempts to contact the HongKong office of China Resources by Bloomberg were unanswered today as it is a public holiday. On the othe hand, China Resources said on its website late yesterday that the company will fully cooperate with authorities on the investigation of its chairman.
Bloomberg said Song is not the first to be investigated following claims of wrongdoing in state media. Just last May, the Communist party fired an economic planning agency vice chairman following allegations made public by a journalist that he has done some improper business dealings. According to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, over 180,000 party officials had been handed out punishments last year for abuse of power and corruption.
