China to send graft inspectors to 6 Sinopec subsidiaries

[BEIJING] China's main anti-corruption watchdog will inspect six subsidiaries of state-owned energy giant Sinopec Group, the latest step in a continuing crackdown on the oil sector in the world's No 2 economy.

The ruling Communist Party's watchdog plans to send teams to inspect five units of Sinopec Group's main listed entity, Sinopec Corp , as well as a subsidiary of Sinopec Engineering (Group) Co Ltd. "(Sinopec should) ... unceasingly promote a clean government Party work style that builds a struggle with anti-corruption,"the company said in a statement carried on the website of the Central Commission of Discipline Inspection on Wednesday.

The anti-corruption watchdog also launched inspections at Sinopec, which is Asia's largest refiner, in late 2014, targeting senior figures.

Earlier this year, it said the president of Sinopec Group, Wang Tianpu, was under investigation for "serious disciplinary violations", the wording generally used to refer to graft.

No timeline was given for the latest inspections, which will visit Sinopec Henan Oilfield Branch Co, Sinopec Fujian Petrochemical Co Ltd, Sinopec Cangzhou Company, Sinopec Shanxi Oil Products Co, Sinopec Jiangxi Oil Products Co and Sinopec Ningbo Engineering Co Ltd.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned that corruption threatens the survival of the ruling Communist Party and his two-year anti-corruption campaign has brought down scores of senior officials in the party, the government, the military and state-owned enterprises.

The watchdog said in February it was targeting 26 of China's biggest state firms for inaugural inspections this year.

REUTERS