Wang Lixin, anti-graft chief of China National Petroleum Corporation, 'removed from post'
Wang Lixin, the anti-corruption chief of China National Petroleum Corporation - who earlier was said to be helping anti-corruption officials with their inquiries - has been removed from his post, according to an official newspaper
Wang Lixin, the anti-corruption chief of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), has been removed from his post, according to Zuzhirenshi Bao, an official newspaper run by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
The report did not give any further details about Wang’s situation.
The news group Caixin reported in October that Wang, head of the state-run company’s discipline and inspection department, had been taken away by anti-graft authorities to help with an investigation.
However, that report did not name the source of its information.
CNPC did not respond to the report, but soon Wang’s profile was removed from its official website.
Several senior officials at CNPC were placed under investigation in August last year for alleged violations of Communist Party discipline – an expression often used by the government to describe alleged corruption.
They were former deputy general managers Wang Yongchun and Li Hualin, former vice-president Ran Xinquan and Wang Daofu, a former senior geologist.
The investigations involving the energy company officials are thought to be connected to the corruption inquiry into Zhou Yongkang, the former national security chief.
Zhou was a former general manager of CNPC and the energy sector was one of power bases of the former top leader.
