Beijing Municipal Government officials announced that the former chairman of Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd., Xu Heyi, has been sentenced to a suspended death penalty for accepting bribes and money laundering. A few years ago, Xu Jianyi, Xu Ping, Xu Liuping, Xu Heyi, and other key figures in the Chinese automotive industry, only Xu Ping has not been implicated.
According to Beijing High Court, on September 28th, the Beijing Third Intermediate People’s Court announced that Xu Heyi was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for bribery, with confiscation of all personal property; sentenced to two years in prison for money laundering, with a fine of 200,000 RMB; the death penalty will be implemented with a two-year reprieve, with confiscation of all personal property.
Public records show that the 69-year-old Xu Heyi, who had previously worked in Shougang Corporation, had held positions such as Director of Shougang Design Institute, Assistant General Manager and Vice General Manager of Shougang Corporation. In 1997, Xu Heyi was transferred to the then Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Economic Committee, and later also served as the Deputy Secretary of the Industrial Work Committee of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Starting from 2002, Xu Heyi successively or concurrently held positions such as Vice Chairman of Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., Ltd., Chairman and General Manager of BAIC Investment, Chairman of Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd., Chairman of Beijing Mercedes-Benz Automotive Co., Ltd., Chairman of BAIC Foton Motor Co., Ltd., Chairman of Beijing Automotive Co., Ltd., Chairman of BAIC Group, and other positions.
Founded in 1958, Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Beijing, a state-owned enterprise of the People’s Republic of China and one of the major companies in the Chinese automotive industry.
Xu Heyi led BAIC Group for nearly 14 years, during which he introduced Hyundai Motor from South Korea and Mercedes-Benz from Germany, leading to the establishment of Beijing Hyundai and Beijing Mercedes-Benz, with Beijing Mercedes-Benz still being a major pillar of BAIC Group.
BAIC Group’s subsidiary, BAIC Blue Valley, went public in Hong Kong in 2014, and in 2018, became the first A-share pure electric vehicle manufacturer through a backdoor listing.
In 2018, BAIC Group’s performance sharply declined, leading to issues of unpaid cooperative payments and vehicle purchase funds. In April 2019, representatives of 119 dealers of BAIC Huansu nationwide visited BAIC Group’s headquarters in Beijing demanding repayment of vehicle purchase funds. BAIC promised to gradually fulfill the payment but failed to do so. In July of the same year, dealers gathered for the second time at BAIC Group’s Beijing plant but were still unsuccessful.
BAIC Huansu is an automobile sales company under BAIC Yinxiang, established in 2011 through a joint venture between BAIC Group, Chongqing Hechuan District Government, and Chongqing Yinxiang Group, serving as an important production base for BAIC Group in the southwestern region.
In 2020, BAIC Yinxiang announced bankruptcy. Later that year, at the age of 63, Xu Heyi resigned from the chairman position of BAIC Group. On March 31, 2023, Xu Heyi was placed under investigation.
Commentator “Zhonggui Zhongju” wrote: “A few years ago, the ‘Four Xus’ who dominated the Chinese automotive industry, including ‘Two Pings and Two Yis’, namely: Xu Jianyi, Chairman of FAW Group, Xu Ping, Chairman of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, Xu Liuping, Chairman of Changan Automobile, and Xu Heyi, Chairman of BAIC Group, only Xu Ping ‘survives’ now.”
Xu Jianyi was arrested in March 2015. Xu Liuping was implicated in May 2026 while serving as the Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. Xu Ping retired in 2020 from the position of Chairman of the China Ordnance Equipment Group.