Two more senior executives investigated in Zhou Yongkang corruption probe

Two more senior executives of state-owned enterprises have been placed under Communist Party investigation as a major corruption probe widens.

Both investigations appear to be linked to China’s highest level graft probe in recent history centring on Zhou Yongkang, who until earlier this year served on the party’s top decision making body, the Politburo Standing Committee. President Xi Jinping gave the go-ahead for an investigation into Zhou in August.

Jin Jianping, the former chairman of Tianjin Gas Group was detained on September 5 in Xianghe, Hebei province, the 21st Century Business Herald reported on Thursday. He has since been placed under shuanggui, a form of detention for party members under investigation for disciplinary violations, the economic daily said citing unidentified sources.

Jin’s detention came three days after the group’s Hong Kong-listed subsidiary Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities unexpectedly announced his resignation as chairman of its board in a stock exchange filing.

The Zhejiang native resigned “owing to work reallocation,” the statement said. “There is no matter relating to his resignation that will need to be brought to the attention of the shareholders,” it added.

The report by the Herald suggested that Jin knew of a pending investigation and had attempted to leave the country. The report said Jin’s investigation appeared to be linked to a wider probe into graft allegations at China National Petroleum Corporation, the nation’s largest oil producer. Zhou headed the state-owned company in the 1990s.