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
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.
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President Xi Jinping in an April trip to the northwestern province of Shaanxi urged officials to remain vigilant against corruption and to redouble their efforts to protect the environment and deliver on the country’s anti-poverty goals.
Zhao, 47, is also an executive director and deputy chairman of Beijing Enterprises, which is also a major player in China’s natural gas distribution, solid waste treatment and water supply and treatment industries. Beijing Enterprises rose 1.3 per cent to HK$23.70 in Hong Kong trading.
Hurt by the coronavirus pandemic earlier in the year, the company posted a 47.5 per cent year-on-year decline in net profit to 269 million yuan in the year’s first half, as sales volume dropped 18.6 per cent to 2.1 million kilo-litres. Sales started to rebound in April.
