Official falls in latest corruption case

A senior manager of a State-owned electric power company was dismissed from public office on Monday for corruption, the latest high-level official in the energy industry in recent years to face a judicial investigation.

Huang Baodong, former vice-president of Power Construction Corp of China, is suspected of gravely violating Party discipline and the law, according to a statement by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the country's top anti-graft watchdog.

According to authorities, Huang received large amounts of bribes and created profits for others by abusing his position of power. His case has been transferred to judicial authorities for further investigation, they said.

The PCCC, founded in September 2011, ranked 390th on the Fortune Global 500 - an annual ranking of the top 500 firms globally by revenue - in 2012 and 354th in 2013. By the end of 2012, its total assets reached 275.534 billion yuan ($44.11 billion) and it employed 210,000 people, according to the company's website.

In early March, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, China's State-owned enterprise regulator, said on its website that Huang was removed from his post as vice-president of the PCCC. The commission did not elaborate.

Before his high-level spot at the PCCC, Huang was vice-president of China's Sinohydro Group, which merged with the PCCC in 2011.

Yang Xiaodu, deputy chief of the top anti-graft watchdog, said during an online interview on Monday that supervision of State-owned enterprises would be stepped up this year, with more disciplinary officials to be dispatched to SOEs.

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn