BEIJING: A businesswoman ranked as one of the 50 wealthiest in China has been ousted from a senior political organisation, with state media yesterday pointing to her links to a former high-ranking official facing graft allegations.
Liu Yingxia, who was listed as China’s 46th richest woman with assets of $660m by wealth publisher the Hurun Report last year, was removed as a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The CPPCC is a debating chamber that is part of the Communist Party-controlled governmental structure and usually meets once a year in March. The official news agency gave no reason for her banishment.
Liu, born in 1972, founded a company in the northeastern city of Harbin at the age of 20 that now operates in the property and road construction sectors, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported. She is allegedly married to the son of a high-ranking military officer, it said.
In 2012, a fund of hers invested in a 110-billion-yuan oil pipeline project with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and two other state-run organisations, the newspaper said.
Jiang Jiemin, CNPC’s then-chairman, attended the signing ceremony. It was reportedly the first time that a private firm had been allowed to take part in oil pipeline construction in China.
The ruling party’s internal graft watchdog announced in September that Jiang was under investigation for “suspected severe violation of discipline,” usually a euphemism for corruption.
Jiang, who is believed to be a close associate of China’s ex-chief of internal security Zhou Yongkang, held a minister-level position as head of the government body overseeing state-owned assets before his fall. AFP
