Hu Bing was detained on suspicion of bribery
The chief executive of a Singapore-listed developer has become the latest executive from China Everbright, one of the mainland’s largest state-owned financial groups, to be detained for corruption, according to a recent announcement.
Ying Li International Real Estate, which operates as a subsidiary of China Everbright, announced to the Singapore exchange on Monday that Hu Bing, “has been detained by the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau on 4 December 2020 due to his involvement in suspected bribery”.
The Chongqing-based company quickly moved to remove Hu from its board and said that it was not aware of the arrest being related to its operations. Mainland authorities have yet to release details of any charges against Hu.
China Everbright had taken control of Ying Li in April of 2019, with Hu, now 42, having been chief operating officer of Everbright Ashmore Investments, a real estate fund management unit of the mainland group, before being appointed as Ying Li’s chief executive in June of last year.
Hu’s detention this month comes just over three months after China Everbright Industry Group chairman Zhu Huimin came under investigation for suspected disciplinary violations. Everbright Industry is responsible for financing, environmental protection and real estate projects at the state-run group.
Ying Li Troubles Continue
In announcing Hu’s arrest, Ying Li indicated that relevant investigations are still ongoing, with this latest incident signalling a fresh disruption for the troubled developer, which has developed projects including the 140,000 square metre (1.5 million square foot) Ying Li International Financial Centre in Chongqing.
The Ying Li International Financial Centre in Chongqing
In September of last year five of Ying Li’s subsidiaries in Chongqing were fined a total of RMB 590,000 ($90,300) for violating foreign exchange restrictions.
In Singapore the company has been questioned repeatedly by financial regulators including facing queries in August from the SGX regarding its half-year financial statements for the period ending 30 June 2020. In April Ying Li had received questions from the exchange regarding unusual trading in its shares and in May the company responded to questions from the Singapore’s Securities Investors Association regarding its 2019 annual report.
A graduate of the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Ying Li had previously touted Hu’s 18 years of experience in managing property investments as equipping the company to move into real estate asset management and securitisation.
While still employed at Everbright Ashmore, Hu had first joined Ying Li’s board in 2017 before being selected to helm the company last year. The detained executive had begun his term at Everbright Ashmore in 2013 after previously working with Beijing’s Lenovo Holdings and Lenovo Raycom Investment.
Directors Depart Loss-Making Builder
Ying Li had revenues of RMB 358 million in 2019, which marked a 52.3 percent decrease from its take a year earlier. The developer ended the year with RMB 1.5 billion in assets, after losing RMB 526 million.
During the past year the company has seen numerous defections from it board including the resignation of non-executive, non-independent director Chen Hongfei in June. Chen continues to serve as president of Shanghai-listed Everbright Jiabao.
In May, Pan Ying retired from his role as Ying Li’s non-executive and non-independent deputy chairman, and Xiao Zu Xiu also retired from his independent directorship.
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