Former China chip fund executive expelled from Communist Party for bribery, graft
- Beijing-based Sino IC Capital is responsible for managing the assets of the state-backed China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, or ‘Big Fund’
- Lu had bought and decorated company properties for ‘personal enjoyment’ and accepted gifts that could have ‘affected the fair execution of official duties’
The former head of the firm that manages China’s main semiconductor industry investment fund has been expelled from the Chinese Communist Party over corruption charges, following a six-month investigation.
Lu Jun, who stepped down as chief executive of Sino IC Capital in late 2020, was expelled from the party for taking bribes, embezzling funds and abusing state power, according to a statement published Thursday on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China’s top anti-corruption watchdog.
Beijing-based Sino IC Capital is the sole entity responsible for managing the assets of the state-backed China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, also known as the “Big Fund”, the largest such enterprise in the country with more than 120 billion yuan (US$17.7 billion) in capital.
Founded in 2014, the Big Fund serves as China’s primary financing vehicle for chip start-ups and some of the country’s major semiconductor-related enterprises, with more than 67 per cent of its funding going to local wafer foundries including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp and Hua Hong Semiconductor.
Ren Kai, vice-president at Sino IC Capital, came under investigation in September.
The results of the corruption probes for Wang, Ding and Kai have not been disclosed.