The Shanghai Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection is intensifying its crackdown as it investigates yet another business leader, Zhou Jun, the president of Shanghai Industrial Investment. This commission is a branch of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), and Zhou is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, commonly referred to as corruption. He is undergoing disciplinary review and supervisory investigation, as stated by the CCDI.
Zhou had held posts at several state-owned group’s Hong Kong listed subsidiaries from where he recently resigned, citing “personal matters,” according to CNN. His company, Shanghai Industrial Investment, operates in infrastructure, property, and pharmaceuticals, making him the latest prominent business leader in China to be investigated by authorities.
This year has seen over a dozen top executives from various sectors like technology, finance, and real estate either disappear or become subjects of corruption investigations. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has also been investigating Zhang Hongli, a former senior executive vice president at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Chen Shaojie, the founder and CEO of DouYu.
These developments have heavily impacted the business community in China overall. The chief of one of China’s leading investment firms, Fred Hu, suggested that entrepreneurs are “lying low or lying flat” against the backdrop of these investigations. He emphasized the need for China to reform its legal system particularly for protecting entrepreneurs from arbitrary political interference and even prosecution.