More CNPC executives under investigation

PetroChina, a subsidiary of Chinese oil giant China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), on Tuesday announced that its vice-chairman, Liao Yongyuan, has resigned over a disciplinary investigation which was revealed on Monday.

More senior executives of State-owned enterprises (SOE) may be investigated in the near future following Liao's probe, analysts said.

Liao is the fourth member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Leading Group at CNPC who has been officially put under investigation since August 2013, starting from then-CNPC deputy general manager Wang Yongchun. The group is composed of nine people.

By the end of 2014, at least 46 people who worked at or were linked to CNPC had been probed since March 2013, the Legal Mirror reported.

A tightly-knit group of senior executives at CNPC suspected of corruption helped each other to occupy important posts, which contributed to alleged systemic corruption, Gao Bo, an anti-graft expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

"Collusion between officials and businessmen is a feature that makes corruption in the CNPC distinct from other SOEs," Gao said, citing Zhou Yongkang and Jiang Jiemin as examples.

Former security chief Zhou Yongkang, who was expelled from the CPC in December, served as CNPC's general manager from 1996 to 1998 and had worked there since 1988.

Zhou's protégé, Jiang Jiemin, who has also been investigated, had been CNPC chairman since 2011 before he was promoted as the head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission in 2013.

Liao was investigated only half a month after a central disciplinary inspection group was dispatched to the CNPC, which shows that the authorities have expedited the fight against corruption in SOEs, Gao said.

"As SOEs are often monopolistic, where funds and resources are concentrated, they became a hotbed for corruption," Ren Jianming, a public administration expert at Beijing-based Beihang University, told the Global Times.

Ren said he expects more investigations of senior executives in sectors such as energy, telecommunications and construction.

On Tuesday, CNPC vowed to "firmly support and actively cooperate" with Liao's investigation.

China Petrochemical Corporation, another State-owned oil giant, decided on Monday to appoint 28 discipline inspection officers to its 28 affiliated companies.