What’s new: Wang Zaisheng, a former deputy secretary of the Communist Party committee at Shanxi Rural Credit Union, was placed under investigation for alleged “serious violations of (party) discipline and law,” the top graft buster in the northern province of Shanxi announced (link in Chinese) Wednesday.
Wang, 62, retired from his position at Shanxi Rural Credit Union in November 2017. Before he joined the credit union, he served on Shanxi’s provincial party committee.
What’s the background: Last month, several former senior managers at the credit union were put under investigation by the graft buster. Sources familiar with the matter told Caixin that the financial institution lost tens of billions of yuan due to loan embezzlement and other illegal activities.
Rural financial networks covering the vast countryside with local rural credit unions were formed in the country’s long-running revamp of rural financial institutions. But many lack proper regulatory oversight.
Since 2015, several high-profile corruption cases have been exposed involving rural financial officials, including an extensive graft web surrounding provincial rural credit unions in Yunnan and Henan provinces, Caixin previously reported.
Related: Rural Bank Targeted in Regulator’s Crackdown on Risk
Contact reporter Tang Ziyi (ziyitang@caixin.com) and editor Marcus Ryder (marcusryder@caixin.com)
