China’s anti-corruption agency to step up inspections at state-run oil giant Sinopec Group
Checks to be carried out at subsidiaries after round of inspections launched at firm last year
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 03 June, 2015, 3:10pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 03 June, 2015, 3:13pm
Reuters in Beijing
The president of the Sinopec Group, Wang Tianpu, is under investigation for alleged graft. Photo: Reuters
China’s main anti-corruption watchdog will inspect six subsidiaries of state-owned energy giant Sinopec Group, the latest step in a continuing crackdown on the oil sector in the world’s second-largest economy.
The ruling Communist Party’s watchdog plans to send teams to inspect five units of Sinopec Group’s main listed entity, Sinopec Corp, as well as a subsidiary of Sinopec Engineering (Group) Co, it said in a statement.
The anti-corruption watchdog also launched inspections at Sinopec, which is Asia’s largest refiner, in late 2014, targeting senior figures.
Earlier this year it said the president of the Sinopec Group, Wang Tianpu, was under investigation for serious disciplinary violations, the wording generally used to refer to graft.
No timeline was given for the latest inspections, which will visit Sinopec Henan Oilfield Branch, Sinopec Fujian Petrochemical, Sinopec Cangzhou Company, Sinopec Shanxi Oil Products, Sinopec Jiangxi Oil Products and Sinopec Ningbo Engineering.
President Xi Jinping has warned that corruption threatens the survival of the ruling Communist Party and his two-year anti-graft campaign has brought down scores of senior officials in the party, the government, the military and state-owned enterprises.
The watchdog said in February it was targeting 26 of China’s biggest state firms for inaugural inspections this year.
