A trio of senior executives that have held positions with one of China’s big three policy banks have been placed under investigation by authorities, as President Xi Jinping steps up anti-corruption efforts.
Xu Weihua (徐伟华), the former party secretary and president of China Development Bank’s (CDB) Hainan branch has been expelled from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and removed from his official position due to “severe breaches of party discipline,” according to information from the CCP’s disciplinary authority.
Xu’s ousting was due to “use of scarce financial resources to flagrantly seek personal gain, abandoning the bottom line against financial risk and causing major damage to state-owned assets.”
According to authorities Xu’s actions comprise “severe professional breaches of the law, as well as suspected acceptance of bribes and criminal provision of loans in breach of the law.”
Lin Fan (林放), the former head of CDB’s Hubei branch, has also been expelled from the CCP.
The move comes just after Liu Chunsheng (刘春生), the former head of CDB’s Hainan branch, was placed under investigation by disciplinary authorities sent to conduct on-site investigations.
On 23 December the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) announced the launch of inspections to ferret out corruption in various parts of the banking system.
59 year-old Xu Weihua hails from Jiangsu province, and from 1984 to 1997 served in various positions in China’s metallurgical and engineering sectors.
From October 1997 to July 2007 he held various positions with CDB, before his appointment to the role of vice-president of its Hainan branch, a position he held from 2007 to March 2012, before serving as president and party secretary from 2012 to 2014.
Xu subsequently continued to hold senior positions with CDB’s Hainan branch, most recently acting as expert consultant.