One of the mainland's most prominent bankers was sacked yesterday as president and chief executive officer of China Construction Bank - one of the state's big four.
A bank official declined to say why Wang Xuebing, known to be a trusted aide of Premier Zhu Rongji, had been dismissed or whether he had been arrested, although speculation has been intensifying during the past week that he is under investigation for alleged financial irregularities.
The central Government made Mr Wang's sacking public yesterday and bank employees were also notified. The official said Mr Wang would be replaced by Zhang Enzhao, the bank's deputy president.
China Construction, the Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China are the mainland's top banks.
Sources said Mr Wang was being investigated for his alleged role in several banking scandals that took place when he was governor of the Bank of China.
They said several other former Bank of China officials, including Liang Xiaoting, a former top official of its Hong Kong operations, were also implicated and under investigation.
