The Shanghai Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection is intensifying its crackdown on corruption by investigating yet another business leader, Zhou Jun, the president of Shanghai Industrial Investment. This commission is a branch of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), which is reportedly investigating suspected serious violations of discipline and law, commonly referred to as corruption.
Zhou had previously held posts at several state-owned group’s Hong Kong listed subsidiaries before resigning recently, citing personal matters. His company operates in infrastructure, property, and pharmaceuticals, making him the latest prominent business leader in China to be investigated by authorities.
This year has seen over a dozen top executives from various sectors like technology, finance, and real estate either disappear or become subjects of corruption investigations. The CCDI has also been investigating Zhang Hongli, a former senior executive vice president at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Chen Shaojie, the founder and CEO of DouYu.
These developments have heavily impacted the business community in China overall. The chief of one of China’s leading investment firms, Fred Hu, suggested that entrepreneurs are “lying low” or “lying flat” against the backdrop of these investigations. He emphasized the need for China to reform its legal system for better protection of entrepreneurs from arbitrary political interference and even prosecution.
