The head of giant Chinese state-owned conglomerate China Resources has been expelled from the Communist Party and stripped of his public office for corruption, its anti-graft watchdog said today.
China Resources, which has five listed units in Hong Kong, is a Fortune magazine Global 500 company, ranking 115th last year with total assets topping USD 150 billion.
Song Lin was placed under investigation in April last year by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) after a journalist posted graft allegations against him online in 2013.
The probe found that Song took bribes, embezzled public funds for personal use and "committed adultery", the CCDI said in a statement today.
The party has decided to expel him and the government has approved his removal from his public posts, it said.
"All his illegal gains will be confiscated and the evidence, cash and assets involved in his suspected violation of the law will be transferred to judicial authorities," it added.
The move is normally a precursor to prosecution and trial, with conviction virtually guaranteed in the country's party-supervised courts.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has pursued a highly publicised anti-graft drive since taking office, vowing to go after both senior "tigers" and low-level "flies".
The campaign has ensnared a long list of officials including former security czar Zhou Yongkang, but critics say it smacks of factionalism and that the Communist Party has failed to introduce systemic reforms to prevent graft, such as public disclosure of assets.
