The South China Morning Post (October 25) disclosed that China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate had
decided on October 25, to formally arrest Yin Jiaxu, former Norinco Chairman, “on suspicion of accepting
bribes and making illegal gains for relatives and friends in accordance with the law”. His formal arrest came
seven months after he was put under an internal party probe by China’s top anti-corruption body, the Central
Discipline Inspection Commission (CDIC), for “serious violations of discipline and the law”. Yin Jiaxu had
been the Party Secretary and Chairman of China North Industries Group Corporation (Norinco) until his
sudden retirement in 2018, three years ahead of his official retirement age of 65. He was formally handed
over to prosecutors on September 30 after being expelled from the party and stripped of all official positions
and benefits. The CDIC accused Yin Jiaxu of receiving “huge sums” of money and gifts, using his official
capacity to benefit others and transferring the profitable business of the company to relatives and friends
for personal gain, “resulting in huge losses in national interests” and being “obsessed with golfing” and
having long held a golf club membership illegally. Before rising to Norinco’s top management position in
2013, Yin Jiaxu spent more than 14 years at Changan Automobile Co, a subsidiary of Norinco that
manufactures passenger cars, minivans, commercial vans and light trucks, where he was regarded as key to
the group’s rebound from near bankruptcy in 1998.
(Comment: The CDIC has previously arrested Hu Wenming, Chairman of the Aviation Industry
Corporation of China and later China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), which oversaw the development of China’s aircraft carriers. There was suspicion that he may have been spying on behalf of a
foreign power. Hu Wenming was expelled from the party for taking bribes and abusing his power. He faced
trial in February in a Shanghai court and is now awaiting sentencing. Before Hu, Sun Bo, former General
Manager of CSIC, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for taking bribes and abuse of power in July 2019.)
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