Yanjing Brewery, China’s official beer supplier, slides after chairman is detained for ‘duty-related violation’

Shares of Beijing Yanjing Brewery fell as much as 5 per cent after its chairman was detained by mainland Chinese authorities

Stock traded at the highest level since May 2018 before the market was closed from October 1 for ‘golden week’ holiday

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Secuity officers patrolling outside China’s central bank in Beijing. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 3:14pm, 9 Oct 2020Updated: 5:22pm, 9 Oct 2020

Beijing Yanjing Brewery, the official beer supplier at state banquets in the Great Hall of the People, fell from more than two-year high after its chairman was detained by mainland authorities to assist an undisclosed investigation.

The investigation is related to certain suspected “duty-related violation”, the company said in a Shenzhen stock exchange filing late Thursday. The announcement did not reveal the nature of the violations and timing of his detention.

The company said it has already made arrangements so that the company’s operation has not been affected by Zhao’s absence. His duties will be temporarily carried out by vice chairman Xie Guangjun and the company is operations normally, it added. The 40-year old brewery is a unit of Beijing Enterprises, a municipal government-backed group.

The stock retreated 2 per cent to 8.26 yuan in Shenzhen. It last traded at 8.43 yuan on September 30 when the market took a breather for the “golden week” holiday. They earlier slumped as much as 5 per cent to 8.01 yuan.

Zhao’s detention follows a slew of such moves in recent years involving corporate executives including those at high-profile entities such as Tomorrow Group, CEFC Group and China Minsheng’s SRE Group. Last month, Genscript Biotech slumped after its chairman was placed under home surveillance.