China probes top exec at state investment firm for corruption

A top executive at a major Chinese state-backed investment company is under investigation for corruption, the government's anti-corruption body said Sunday, as an unrelenting crackdown on graft sweeps through the finance sector.

Xu Zuo, vice president at China Citic Group, is "suspected of serious disciplinary and legal violations", the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in an online statement, without giving further details.

Citic Group is a vast state-run investment conglomerate with the equivalent of over $1.5 trillion in total assets as of last year, according to its official website.

Xu, a senior economist with a background in overseas acquisitions and restructuring, has been on the firm's executive committee since 2019.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has waged a near-constant crackdown on official corruption since coming to power over a decade ago.

Proponents say the campaign encourages clean governance, while critics argue it also serves as a vehicle for Xi to purge political rivals.

Anti-graft bodies have trained their sights on the financial sector in recent months, including banking, insurance and state-owned enterprises.

Last month, Bai Tianhui, the former general manager at another huge state-backed asset management firm, Huarong, was sentenced to death after being found guilty of taking over 1.1 billion yuan ($151.8 million) in bribes.