Ex-boss of China’s top defence firm Norinco under scanner for corruption

Beijing, April 4

China’s top anti-graft watchdog said on Sunday that the former chief of one of the largest weapons manufacturers is under investigation for alleged graft, in one of the major corruption scandals in the country’s defence manufacturing industry.

Yin Jiaxu, former Party secretary and chairman of the state-owned defence corporation China North Industries Group Corp (Norinco), the country’s major manufacturer of weapon, is undergoing disciplinary review for suspected serious violations of discipline and the law, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on Sunday.

During Yin’s term as head of the group from 2013 to 2018, a central inspection team said in October of 2015 that the group has been found for the weakened leadership of the ruling Communist Party of China, (CPC) state-run Global Times reported.

The central inspection team said that some senior officials in the group have been abusing their powers for personal gains, providing unjustified convenience for their spouses, children, and relatives to run businesses or enterprises, the report said.

Yin, 65, is the latest high-level official from the defence industry to be netted by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign, which according to the officials’ figures, has seen more than 1.3 million officials investigated since 2012.

Norinco supplies weapons and equipment to all branches of the Chinese military and armed police force.

According to a December report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, it is the ninth-largest arms company in the world and third-largest in China, after Aviation Industry Corporation of China and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. 

Yin, who was the former chairman of Norinco until his retirement in 2018 and head of its Communist Party unit, is being investigated for “serious violations of discipline and the law”, the CCDI said.

Xi, who is also head of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) which is the overall high command, has focused his anti-graft campaign on over million-strong People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the world’s largest military.

The campaign targeted over 60 senior Generals including top military officials for corruption and abuse of power.

Observers say his campaign also helped Xi to consolidate his hold on the power to emerge as the most powerful leader after ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) founder Mao Zedong with prospect of continuing in power for a lifetime. ---  PTI

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