Corruption in China: ex-boss of PLA weapons giant to face trial over bribes and favours

Yin Jiaxu was until 2018 head of Norinco, a state-held supplier of weapons and equipment to all branches of the Chinese military and armed police force

The 65-year-old is the second high-profile defence manager to face corruption charges this year

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Yin Jiaxu is accused of receiving “huge sums” of money and gifts, as well as using his official capacity to benefit others. Photo: SCMP

Published: 10:00pm, 1 Oct 2021Updated: 11:05pm, 1 Oct 2021

The former head of one of China’s largest weapon manufacturers has been expelled from the Communist Party and will face corruption charges, the country’s top anti-graft body has announced, barely eight months after his predecessor was indicted on similar grounds.

Yin Jiaxu, Communist Party chief and chairman of state-owned China North Industries Group Corporation (Norinco) from 2013 until retiring in 2018, had been placed under an internal party probe in April over undisclosed wrongdoing.

He has now been accused of receiving “huge sums” of money and gifts, as well as using his official capacity to benefit others, according to a readout on Thursday from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party’s top anti-corruption body.

Yin, 65, has been expelled from the party and will face indictment on corruption charges, the document said.

He is the second Norinco chief in a row to fall from grace under President Xi Jinping’s far-reaching anti-corruption drive launched nine years ago.

Prosecutors slapped similar charges on Yin’s predecessor, Hu Wenming, in February – accusing him of receiving bribes through most of his career in different roles in the defence industry, including during his tenure at the Aviation Industry Corporation of China and China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.

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