File photo of Wang Tianpu (Photo/China Daily)
Wang Tianpu, president of the State-owned Sinopec Group, Asia's biggest crude oil refiner, is under investigation for suspected "serious disciplinary violations", the anti-graft watchdog said on Monday.
The China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection posted the statement on its website in the late afternoon, without giving further details.
The board of the company published a short statement on Monday evening, saying that the company supports the decision of the central government and will continue to fight against corruption.
"The company will make anti-corruption a priority task and make efforts to keep production and operations stable," said the statement.
Wang, aged 52, a board director of China Petrochemical Corporation, or Sinopec, was appointed president of the company in August 2011.
The State Council gave him a major demerit on his record in January 2014 because of an explosion on Nov 22, 2013, in Shandong province, in the Donghuang II pipeline operated by Sinopec. The explosion killed 62 people.
The accident caused a financial loss of 750 million yuan ($122.6 million).
The company later published a statement saying corrosion weakened the pipeline and caused crude oil to leak into the municipal drainage system.
Fu Chengyu, chairman of Sinopec was given a record of demerit and three other senior officials, including Wang, were given different administrative sanctions, ranging from a warning to dismissal.
China's administrative sanctions include a warning, record of demerit, record of a major demerit, demotion, removal from office and dismissal.
Wang was in the public eye last week when Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli met leaders and officials from Russian energy companies in a delegation led by his Russian counterpart Arkady Dvorkovich.
Wang attended the meeting and joined the luncheon.
Wang was appointed vice-president of Qilu Petrochemical Company, a subsidiary of Sinopec, in March 1999.
In September 2000, he became president of Sinopec Qilu Company and moved on to become vice-president of Sinopec the following year.
In March 2005, he was appointed president of Sinopec, and he became a board director in 2006.
Prosecutors file 7,500 corruption cases
More than 7,500 corruption cases were filed by prosecutors across the country during the first three months of this year, most of them involving bribes of over 50,000 yuan ($8,000).
A total of 9,636 people were placed under investigation on corruption charges in the first-quarter cases, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said on Monday.
It said 6,649 cases with more than 100,000 yuan of embezzlement or bribes accounted for 88 percent of the total number of cases.
Prosecutors at all levels have stepped up efforts in combating corruption in sectors concerning public interest, including social security, public health and education. Nearly 6,000 were held in these sectors, according to the top procuratorate.
From January to March, 3,265 individuals were prosecuted on corruption charges.
During the same period, the courts ruled that 4,384 suspects were guilty in a total of 3,565 corruption cases.
