China Huarong chairman under investigation

Lai Xiaomin, chairman of China Huarong Asset Management Co Ltd, is under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced on Tuesday night.

Lai started his career at the People's Bank of China in July 1983, where he held various positions including deputy director-general of the credit management department and deputy director-general of the banking supervision department that oversees joint-stock commercial banks and city commercial banks.

Afterward, he served as deputy director-general at the No 2 banking supervision department of the former China Banking Regulatory Commission, director-general of the Beijing Banking Regulatory Bureau, chief spokesman and director-general of the general office of the CBRC and president of China Huarong.

At present, he concurrently acts as president of the China Enterprise Confederation and vice-president of China Chamber of International Commerce, according to his profile posted on the website of China Huarong.

China Huarong, one of the country's four largest State-owned asset management companies, was listed in Hong Kong in 2015.

According to its annual results announcement issued on March 20, net profits attributable to equity holders of China Huarong were 21.99 billion yuan ($3.5 billion) in 2017, up 12.1 percent from the previous year. Total income of the group increased by 34.5 percent from 2016 to 128.07 billion yuan last year, and the total income from the distressed asset management segment contributed 68.9 billion yuan, or 53.8 percent, of the total income of the group. Its total assets reached 1.87 trillion yuan as of Dec 31, 2017.

A request for comments sent to China Huarong received no reply by 11:30 pm Tuesday.