Companies

Zijin group 'attempts to buy silence'

By Zhu Xingxin and Cheng Yingqi (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-27 15:42

Zijin Mining has denied offering bribes.

"I've never done that. What the journalist said has ruined my reputation. If I have done such things, I have committed a crime," Zou Yongming, head of the press department of Zijin Mining, said on Monday.

"I hope reporters who claim I have tried to bribe them could come out with evidence such as sound recording," he said.

Zou said he had never heard of the New Finance Economics magazine, which claimed that Zijin Mining deposited 60,000 yuan in its bank account.

Related readings:  Zijin shares suspended from trading for 2nd day  Zijin checks all plants after acid waste spill  Questions raised over waste leak  Zijin Mining required to close copper plant

But Chen Qiang, a China Youth Daily reporter, wrote in his blog on Monday that Zou had contacted him on Sunday afternoon to help a reporter from the New Finance Economics get some information, indicating Zou knew of the magazine.

Reporters from China National Radio and the China Youth Daily told China Daily on Monday that they had not been offered bribes from Zijin Mining.

However, China Daily spotted a 150,000-yuan receipt on Zou's desk that was titled "advertising fee for local media".