Tianjin energy boss detained as graft probe widens

A top energy executive from Tianjin is being investigated amid the widening corruption probe into the country's petrochemical sector.

Jin Jianping, who stepped down from the helm of Hong Kong-listed Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities at the start of this month, was placed under internal investigation by the Communist Party for "serious disciplinary violation" - often a euphemism for graft - Xinhua said in a brief report yesterday, citing the city's anti-graft watchdog.

Tianjin Jinran is the sole supplier of natural gas in the northern city, with 2.7 million customers and 11,420 kilometres of gas pipeline, according to its website. Its shares fell 0.02 per cent in Hong Kong yesterday, to close at HK$1.81, giving it a market capitalisation of HK$3.33 billion. Jin was still listed as the chairman of the parent company, Tianjin Gas Group, on its website yesterday.

Jin, 54, is the latest senior executive to come under scrutiny as the party expands its corruption inquiry into the country's powerful oil and gas businesses, one of the powerbases of former top party leader Zhou Yongkang. Zhou retired in November from the all-powerful Politburo's Standing Committee. The South China Morning Post reported last month that the new leadership under President Xi Jinping had agreed to an unprecedented corruption investigation targeting Zhou, who spent the early decades of his career in the oil sector.

The activities of a number of Zhou's protégés are also being scrutinised. Jin, who led the company since 2002, has overseen numerous gas utility infrastructure projects in Tianjin amid a major push for clean energy in recent years.

The 21st Century Business Herald newspaper reported yesterday that he was taken away while out for breakfast near his home in Xianghe county in Hebei province on September 5 and that investigators had also uncovered cash at his home. Quoting an unidentified source from a Tianjin municipal party committee department overseeing personnel affairs, the paper said Jin had been accused of financial irregularities linked to the probe into the China National Petroleum Corporation.