CHANGJIANG Fertilizer Holdings on Wednesday announced that it has been queried by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) over the leave of absence taken by its executive chairman, Cai Jian Hua.

The company said in February that Mr Cai is taking a leave of absence from his duties for a period of six months with effect from March 1, 2015 to Sept 1, 2015 "to sort out his personal matters".

Changjiang Fertilizer said that it did not have "further definitive details" on Mr Cai's "personal matters". When asked by SGX if these issues would impact his "character and integrity as a director of the company", the company could only say that it was "unable to take a view".

"The company is given to understand that Mr Cai is currently not in the position to fulfil his duties as executive chairman and executive director of the company as he is currently unable to commit sufficient time and resources towards overseeing the business and affairs of the company in this capacity."

It added that Mr Cai was not involved in the daily operations of the company, and that the leave of absence "will not have any negative impact on the business or operations". In Mr Cai's absence, deputy CEO Zhu Xue Cheng will take up the position.

Shares of Changjiang Fertilizer closed at 1.9 Singapore cents on Tuesday, down 0.3 Singapore cents.