What is the trend of anti-corruption in central enterprises?, In the first half of the year, 214 centrally managed enterprises voluntarily invested in state-owned assets | official | enterprise
On the 10th, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission announced that in the first half of this year, under the deterrence of cases and policy inspiration, 214 state-owned enterprises voluntarily surrendered. Observations have pointed out that this data reflects the strong trend of multiple breakthroughs and in-depth promotion of anti-corruption work in state-owned assets and central enterprises since the beginning of this year.
Breakthroughs in anti-corruption work in areas such as energy and electricity
At the beginning of this year, the government designated state-owned enterprises as a key area for anti-corruption and strengthened their deployment. The communiqu é of the second plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in January, when mentioning this year's anti-corruption work deployment, pointed out that "highlighting key areas, deepening the rectification of corruption in areas such as finance, state-owned enterprises, political and legal affairs, and food procurement and sales, where power is concentrated, capital is intensive, and resources are enriched.". In the eyes of the outside world, this has provided a "roadmap" and "construction plan" for the anti-corruption efforts of central enterprises for a period of time.
In the following six months, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission has repeatedly released news of central enterprise managers undergoing disciplinary review and supervisory investigations at different nodes. According to the information released by the authorities, most of the enterprises involved in the management personnel were coal, electricity, petroleum, chemical and other energy and mineral enterprises, including Zhang Zhigang, the former deputy general manager of China Datang Power Fuel Co., Ltd., and Li Qingyi, the former deputy secretary of the Party Committee and general manager of China Huaneng Shaanxi Power Generation Co., Ltd.
Professor Peng Xinlin from the Law School of Beijing Normal University believes that from the official centralized notice, it can be seen that the issue of disciplinary and illegal activities in the energy sector is very prominent, involving a large number of people and a huge amount of money involved. Continuously increasing anti-corruption efforts in the energy sector is a way to seize the "bull's nose" of anti-corruption in the state-owned enterprise sector, demonstrating the resolute attitude of the central government to punish corruption in state-owned enterprises.
In addition, the management personnel of the investigated central enterprises also come from the fields of grain, equipment manufacturing, logistics, etc., such as Gao Zhengqian, former deputy director of the Asset Management Department of China Grain Reserves Group, Gao Yang, former director and party committee member of the North Materials Science and Engineering Research Institute Co., Ltd. of Ordnance Industry Group, Xiong Aiguo, former party committee secretary and general manager of the Special Equipment Business Unit of Dongfeng Company, and Li Kai, former party committee member and deputy general manager of the Postal Delivery Business Unit of China Post.
In March of this year, the targets of the first round of inspections by the 20th Central Committee were announced, and routine inspections were conducted on the party groups of 30 state-owned enterprises. These 30 state-owned enterprises cover key areas related to national economy and people's livelihood, such as aerospace, energy, electricity, communication, and food, including China National Petroleum Corporation, China Mobile, and COFCO Group. Many of the management personnel of the investigated central enterprises announced by the official authorities come from companies under the state-owned enterprises listed in the inspection list.
Peng Xinlin pointed out that central enterprises in energy, mineral resources, and military industries are not only related to national economy and people's livelihood, but also to national security. For monopolistic central enterprises, further efforts should be made to combat corruption, eliminate hidden dangers in development and security, shape a clean and upright political ecology for central enterprises, and provide guarantees for the high-quality development of the national economy.
Deepening the anti-corruption scope of central enterprises without leaving any blind spots
The reporter found through investigation that the number of management personnel of state-owned enterprises under review and investigation this year has significantly increased compared to the same period in previous years. At the same time, the proportion of key few state-owned assets and central enterprises, especially the top leaders, being investigated and punished has also increased. According to statistics, in the first half of the year, more than 40% of the cases of party group management cadres being detained were investigated by the disciplinary inspection and supervision institutions of state-owned assets and central enterprises.
The website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission once pointed out that the "top leaders" of state-owned enterprises are the "leading geese" of enterprise development, and are the most difficult and important objects to supervise. The "leader" of state-owned enterprises integrates many powers such as decision-making, operation, personnel, and finance, and is easily targeted by unscrupulous businessmen. Effective supervision and restraint must be carried out to ensure that their exercise of power always operates within the framework stipulated by the system.
According to official reports, three central management officials of state-owned enterprises were investigated in the first half of this year. On May 17th, Luo Yulin, a former deputy ministerial level cadre of the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, was investigated. He has served as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of State owned Key Large Enterprises and the Leader of the Party Committee Inspection Group of the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. On June 25th, the first day after the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, it was officially reported that Xu Wenrong, former Deputy Secretary of the Party Group and Deputy General Manager of China National Petroleum Corporation, was investigated. On August 2nd, the official announcement stated that Li Dong, former deputy general manager of the National Energy Investment Group, had been expelled from the party. He announced on February 8th this year that he had been investigated and accused of "recklessly relying on coal to eat coal".
In the eyes of the outside world, the investigation of many "tigers" in state-owned assets and central enterprises has issued a strong signal of strict and comprehensive governance of the party, and also reflects the deepening of the anti-corruption scope of central enterprises.
In the information released by the official authorities on the investigation of state-owned enterprise management personnel, it involves both central management cadres and management personnel of state-owned enterprise subsidiaries. The website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission pointed out in an article that this "fully demonstrates the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, state-owned assets and central enterprises cannot be exceptions, and there are no blind spots or gaps in governing the Party.".
In the long run, scholars generally believe that the anti-corruption storm in central enterprises should not only address the symptoms, but also the root cause. Some comments suggest that we should continue to increase the targeted and effective investigation and punishment of corruption cases in key areas, strengthen high-pressure deterrence, and strengthen the reform of supervision mechanisms and institutional construction in key areas, promote the establishment of a modern corporate governance system, and tighten the institutional cage.
Wei Changdong, Executive Director of the China Association for Clean Governance and Legal Research and Director of the Clean Governance and Legal Center at the Law Research Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, believes that anti-corruption in state-owned enterprises is an inherent requirement for deepening corruption governance. The enrichment area of "power" and "benefit" will always be the primary battlefield for corruption governance. For corruption, it is not only necessary to strengthen and optimize governance strategies, but also to strengthen the construction of a power supervision system.
