Former Bank of China chief Liu Liange facing corruption investigation

[Hamartia Antidote]

Former Bank of China chief Liu Liange facing corruption investigation

The 62-year-old was abruptly removed from his post as chairman and party chief at the leading state-owned lender in February.

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• The 62-year-old was abruptly removed from his post as chairman and party chief at the leading state-owned lender in February
• Liu is the most senior banker to be ensnared by an anti-graft probe targeting the financial sector that was launched in 2021

Liu Liange was snared by an anti-corruption campaign targeting the financial sector. Photo: AP

The former chairman of one of China’s biggest state banks is under investigation following his dismissal earlier this year, the nation’s top anti-corruption bodies announced on Friday.

Liu Liange, who was removed as the Bank of China’s Communist Party chief in February without further explanation, is the most senior banker to become implicated in a crackdown on the financial sector that started in 2021.

The 62-year-old is “suspected of serious violations of discipline and law” – the usual euphemism for corruption – and “undergoing disciplinary review and supervisory investigation”, according to a joint statement by the National Supervision Commission and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).


Liu joined the Bank of China in 2018 and served as governor and vice-chairman, before being promoted to chairman in 2019. He has worked in numerous financial institutions throughout his career, including at the Exim Bank of China and the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank.
Dozens of officials had already been brought down since President Xi Jinping launched the anti-corruption probe targeting the nation’s financial sector.

Luo Xi, the former chairman of People’s Insurance Company Group of China, was also removed from his post in February. Meanwhile Wang Bin, the former chairman of China Life Insurance, was removed from his post last year and charged with bribery and concealing offshore deposits in January

The probe has also implicated senior investment bankers, including from companies such as Everbright Securities and Guotai Junan Securities.

The latest announcement comes after a new leadership team was installed in the CCDI and started investigating leading lenders such as the China Investment Corporation, China Development Bank, Agricultural Development Bank of China, China Everbright Group and People’s Insurance Company (Group) of China Limited.

Thirty state-owned industrial giants, including China Mobile and PetroChina, have also been put on a list of companies to be inspected in a search for those hindering “high-quality” development.

The new CCDI leadership team said it was seeking to defuse risks, including at ailing small banks, which are often associated with corruption.

The authorities are also aiming to prevent financial contagion, rally support for economic recovery and technological innovation and counter the spillover from international turbulence.

Meanwhile, the Bank of China said in a separate statement on Friday that Liu would be replaced as chairman and party chief by 51-year-old Ge Haijiao, an economist who previously worked for the Agricultural Bank of China and China Everbright Group. In 2019, he was made vice-governor of Hebei, the northern province surrounding Beijing.