Promoted from ‘clerks’ to top executives at Chinese state firm, now they’ve been suspended
- Government body says finance bureau director has also been dismissed for breaking hiring rules and ‘changing the SOE’s top managers inappropriately’
- The three young women were working in the company’s accounts department before they were given top roles in September
A government body in northwest China has suspended three top executives – one as young as 23 – of a big state-owned enterprise with over 100 billion yuan (US$14.5 billion) in assets following controversy over the way they were appointed.
Xian Hi-tech Holding – an SOE run by the Xian Hi-tech Industries Development Zone management committee – is under fire after it promoted the three young, inexperienced staff to executive roles in September.
Li Tian, 34, was named chairman, general manager and legal representative of the firm, while Zhao Xueying, 25, and Zhu Yue, 23, became board members of the company in Shaanxi province.
All three women were previously clerks in the company’s accounts department, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
None of them have any management experience, publicly available company records show.
In a statement on its WeChat account on Sunday, the management committee said it had suspended the three women from their duties and that the local disciplinary authority was investigating the appointments after doubts had been raised over their age, educational qualifications and “social connections and background”.