Anti-Corruption Campaign Complements Reform

An anti-corruption drive is sweeping China. As soon as Bo Xilai's trial ended on August 26, news broke of trouble brewing at China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), one of the country's biggest state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and parent company of the Hong Kong-listed PetroChina.

First, the Central Discipline Inspection Commission announced that CNPC deputy general manager Wang Yongchun, the company's sole alternate member of the Communist Party's 18th Central Committee, was being investigated for gross violation of party discipline. A day later, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) said newly promoted deputy general manager Li Hualin, along with two PetroChina senior executives, Ran Xinquan and Wang Daofu, have been relieved of their duty pending a disciplinary probe. The sacking of four senior management employees at one go was a first in the history of the country's SOEs.