China’s answer to open-source software giant Red Hat says its boss was taken away for disciplinary investigation
- ArcherMind Technology said it was notified by authorities at Jinhua city that founder and chairman Wang Jiping had been detained
- The Shenzhen-listed company came under the spotlight in 2019 over its collaboration with a major Huawei supplier
A once-high-flying Chinese software developer, which trumpeted its nationalistic ambition of making products that can replace foreign systems, said its founder had been taken away by local authorities for investigation.
Shenzhen-listed ArcherMind Technology, once considered the Chinese equivalent to US open-source software giant Red Hat, said on Monday it received a notice from the disciplinary authority of Jinhua, a city in the eastern province of Zhejiang, on June 2 about the detainment of its founder and chairman Wang Jiping.
The company said it had no information about the progress or conclusion of the probe. During the interim, ArcherMind has appointed former general manager Liu Bingbing as acting chairman.
The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange said it issued a request to ArcherMind on Tuesday, demanding more details about Wang’s case.
Wang, who founded ArcherMind in 2006, received a master’s degree in mathematics from the US. After he went back to China, Wang started a contractor business for local mobile phone brands, helping them develop software based on open-source Android codes.