Exclusive | Guosheng puts CEFC under state ward as crackdown intensifies on freewheeling private businesses

Wu Qing, a Shanghai vice mayor and former stock exchange chairman, is overseeing the coordination between Guosheng and CEFC, two sources said

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A 21 February, 2017 file photo showing a general view of Yuganskneftegaz pumping station in Priobskoe, 200km from Nefteyugansk in Russia. CEFC in September 2017 became the third-largest shareholder in Russia’s Rosneft, the world’s largest listed oil producer. Photo: EPA/YURI KOCHETKOV

Published: 3:15pm, 2 Mar 2018Updated: 11:46pm, 2 Mar 2018

China’s government, fresh on the heels of putting insurer Anbang Group under state ward, is seizing control of the management of the country’s largest non-state oil conglomerate, as a crackdown intensifies on private entrepreneurs and their freewheeling financing.

Shanghai Guosheng Group, a portfolio and investment agency controlled by the Shanghai municipal government, has taken over the management and daily operations of CEFC China Energy, the Shanghai-based oil and gas conglomerate founded by entrepreneur Ye Jianming, since last week, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

Wu Qing, a vice mayor in the Shanghai government and a former chairman of the city’s stock exchange, is overseeing the coordination between Guosheng and CEFC, two other financial industry sources said separately, declining to be named.

CEFC China Energy’s office at the Convention Plaza Office Tower in Wan Chai on 21 November, 2017. Photo: SCMP/Sam Tsang.

Wu, 53, was made one of the city’s eight vice mayors during the annual session of the Shanghai People’s Congress starting on January 23, with responsibility overseeing investments, commerce, industries and information technology.

Appointed chairman of the Shanghai Stock Exchange in May 2016, Wu was credited with a strong and efficient oversight of the market during his tenure at the Shanghai bourse. He could not be reached for comment.

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