China’s top anti-graft body said it has put former China Shipbuilding Industry Corp (CSIC) chairman Hu Wenming under investigation for potential wrongdoing.
On its website, the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission said Hu was investigated for “suspected severe violations of discipline and law”.
In 2019, Hu retired as CSIC’s chairman and party chief before the formal merger of his company and China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC), China’s two largest state-owned shipbuilding conglomerates.
Driven by Beijing’s ambition to combine state-run enterprises to improve operational efficiency, the merger has created the world’s largest shipbuilding group by orderbook size.
The combined entity, which uses the CSSC name, controls more than half of China’s shipbuilding capacity as well as multiple subsidiaries listed in Shanghai.
Born in 1957, Hu was widely thought to have played an important role in the merger process, having led both CSSC and CSIC for much of the past decade.
After serving as senior executives at China North Industries Group Corp and Aviation Industry Corp of China, Hu joined CSSC as vice president and party chief in 2010.
Hu was elected as CSSC chairman in 2012 before being transferred to CSIC for the same position in 2015.
Aside from his experiences in merchant shipbuilding, Hu oversaw the development of China’s first two domestically built aircraft carriers while at the helm of CSIC.
Hu's probe came after the disciplinary commission launched an investigation over CSIC’s general manager and director Sun Bo in 2018.
Sun was released from his duties and eventually convicted of taking bribes and abusing power in 2019. Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People’s Court sentenced him to 12 years in prison, fined him CNY 800,000 ($116,000), and ordered the confiscation of CNY 8.4m in bribes and gifts accepted by him and his wife.
