Ex-PetroChina Vice President Surrenders in Corruption Probe

Ling Xiao, a former vice president of oil giant PetroChina Co. Ltd. (601857.SH), has surrendered himself to anti-graft agencies, according to an official statement published Sunday.

Ling came under probe for suspected “severe (Communist Party) discipline and law violations” — a term that usually refers to corruption — said the statement (link in Chinese) jointly issued by Sichuan’s provincial anti-corruption agency and the discipline inspection body of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), the parent of Shanghai- and Hong Kong-listed PetroChina.

It remains unclear which law or discipline he may have violated.

Ling already resigned from the position as a vice president of PetroChina for “personal reasons” before the probe was announced, according to a company filing (link in Chinese) to the Shanghai Stock Exchange early last month.

Over the past few years, many Chinese officials and entrepreneurs have voluntarily turned in to anti-graft agencies (主动投案) before being put under investigation in the hope of lighter punishment. Since late 2017, about 42,000 people had turned themselves in to anti-corruption agencies, according to an article (link in Chinese) posted in July on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the top anti-graft body.

An energy industry veteran, 58-year-old Ling was appointed a vice president of PetroChina in 2017. He also served as chairman of Hong Kong-listed KunLun Energy Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of PetroChina, from 2017 to 2020. Previously, he had worked for decades in the energy-rich Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

CNPC is one of the largest energy conglomerates in the world. In the first half this year, its main listed subsidiary, PetroChina, reported 53 billion yuan ($8.2 billion) in net profit attributable to shareholders, a solid rebound from 30 billion yuan in net loss in the same period last year.

Apart from its listings in Shanghai and Hong Kong, PetroChina has its American depositary receipts traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Contact reporter Guo Yingzhe (yingzheguo@caixin.com) and editor Lin Jinbing (jinbinglin@caixin.com)

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