MOSCOW (MRC) -- Cai Xiyou, president of Sinochem Group, the Chinese energy and chemicals conglomerates, has been put under investigation for serious discipline violations, China's main anti-corruption agency said on Saturday, using the usual euphemism for graft, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.
The ruling Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) published a one-line statement on its website on Saturday, providing no other details about Cai's suspected wrongdoing.
Cai, a 30-year oil industry veteran, was named to lead Sinochem in 2014, after a long career at China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) where he was previously a Communist Party committee member, senior vice president, and Sinopec Corp.'s general consul.
In October, Cai also was named chairman and non-executive director of Hong Kong-listed China Jinmao Holdings Group Ltd. , a Sinochem Group real estate subsidiary.
Sinochem Group, formerly China's monopoly oil trader until 1993, has diversified businesses in oil refining, chemicals trading, oil and gas explorations and real estate development.
As MRC wrote before, in January 2016, Sinochem received approval from the Fujian Provincial Development and Reform Commission for a refinery expansion and petrochemicals project in Quanzhou. The USD 6.8-billion project will expand the refinery by 25 % to 300,000 b/d from the current 240,000 b/d capacity. The company will also add a 1-million-t/y ethylene cracker, an 800,000-t/y paraxylene unit, a 400,000-t/y polyethylene plant, an aromatics extraction unit with 300,000 t/y of capacity, and secondary units.
Sinochem Group engages in energy, agriculture, chemicals, real estate, and finance service businesses in China and internationally. It is involved in the exploration and production, refining and trading, warehousing and logistics, and distribution and retailing of oil and gas. The company also produces and distributes fertilizers, such as nitrogen, phosphate, potash, and other fertilizers.
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