The former chairman of China Shipbuilding Industry Co (CSIC) Hu Wenming has been jailed for 13 years and fined CNY 5m ($700,000).
Hu was found guilty on Tuesday of taking bribes and the abuse of power as the head of state-owned enterprises.
Hu used his position as secretary of the Party Committee and leading positions in various state-owned companies including CSIC to “provide assistance” to parties and individuals in matters such as project contracting, business cooperation, asset acquisition and others between 2001 and 2020, local news reported.
He was reported to have illegally accepted bribes amounting to about CNY59.8m ($8.4m).
When Hu was the chairman of CSIC between 2013 and 2015, he was reported to have taken bribes for shipyard acquisition and re-organisation of the group’s yards resulting in heavy losses.
The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court court ordered the property and proceeds of Hu’s bribery to be seized and handed over to the state treasury.
China claims a zero-tolerance policy on corruption, with many high-profile business and political figures being detained in recent years.
The banking industry saw a number of key shipping bankers taken away for investigation.
They include Fang Xiuzhi, former shipping head of Bank of Communications Leasing; Guo Fangmeng (Bill Guo) of Citic Financial Leasing and formerly of ICBC Financial Leasing; Fan Qiyong, shipping head of Minsheng Financial Leasing; Yang Changkun (CK Yang), partner of Equator Fund Management and ex-head of shipping at ICBC Leasing and CExim; David Wu of Landmark Capital.
In March 2023, Li Li, the former shipping head of the Export-Import Bank of China, was reported to have pleaded guilty to charges of accepting bribes relating to ship finance deals, according to local news outlets. Her sentence has yet to be announced.
