China investigates senior executive of energy giant over graft

The second-in-command of China’s biggest energy company has been put under investigation for suspected graft, the country’s corruption watchdog says.

Liao Yongyuan, the general manager of China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), is being investigated for “suspected serious violations of law and party discipline,” the ruling party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said in a statement on Monday night.

The statement did not give further details, but the phrase violations of law and party discipline typically refers to corruption.

Liao was also the vice chairman of major Chinese oil producer PetroChina.

In a statement late Monday, PetroChina also confirmed that Liao had been placed under investigation, but said the company was operating normally.

Liao was appointed vice chairman of PetroChina last May after the initial round of China’s anti-graft campaign implicated several top executives from PetroChina and its parent company CNPC.

Liao is the second top executive at a state-owned enterprise in two days to come under investigation.

On Sunday, the CCDI said that Xu Jianyi, the chairman of state-owned carmaker China FAW Group, had been placed under investigation for suspected corruption.

The CCDI, which has investigated hundreds of thousands of officials and businesspeople over anti-graft campaigns, said earlier this year that it plans to investigate all major state-owned enterprises.

Chinese President Xi Jinping launched an unprecedented anti-corruption campaign after he came to power two years ago, pledging to target both powerful leaders and lowly bureaucrats.