The ex-general manager of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) had quit his position at PetroChina, where he was the second-highest ranking official, in March amid the graft probe.
The Communist Party said he has now been thrown out of the party and will be prosecuted for taking bribes, using his position to help with job promotions and adultery.
“Liao Yongyuan was a senior party official, and seriously violated the party’s political rules and the organisation’s discipline,” the party wrote in a statement.
Liao had been CNPC’s general manager since 2013. He was at the company for more than 30 years, holding a number of positions.
PetroChina said in mid-March it had been informed that Liao was “under investigation by the competent authorities for suspected severe violation of relevant discipline and laws”.
Liao’s investigation came soon after China’s corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), sent resident inspectors to state-owned energy companies, including CNPC, to further scrutinise the corruption cases.
CNPC is the centre of corruption probes in China. The government has arrested about a dozen CNPC senior officials who had held key positions in the company’s business, ranging from international merger and acquisitions and contracting, to procurement to upstream assets outsourcing.
Key executives at Chinese energy firms and other state institutions have been investigated and in many cases charged as the country cracks down on perceived long-standing corruption.
Late last week Chinese authorities inspected six more state-owned companies over corruption allegations, including China Shipbuilding Industries Corporation (CSIC), China Ocean Shipping Company (Cosco), Wuhan Iron & Steel and Baosteel.
– Upstream
