The former director of the Transport Management Bureau in Jiangyan District, Taizhou City, Shandong Province, Bu, who was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for bribery, has been released and taken on a role as a “senior executive” in a state-owned enterprise. Recently, the company’s founder reported that he was illegally employed, receiving a salary of over 580,000 RMB in three years, sparking public outrage.
Bu, who received a sentence of five years and six months for taking bribes amounting to 277,600 RMB, was appointed as the head of marketing at Taizhou Xiabei New Green Building Materials Technology Co., Ltd. (“Xiabei Company”) after his release from prison. Internal documents of the company labeled him as a “senior executive.”
Over the past year, the company’s founder and shareholder, Wang, has continuously reported to various levels of discipline inspection and supervision agencies and relevant departments in Jiangyan District, Taizhou City, alleging that Jindong City Investment violated regulations by unlawfully appointing Bu, a released prisoner, as a “senior executive” of Xiabei Company.
Evidence such as payroll records, board meeting documents, and attendance sheets at meetings of Xiabei Company show that Bu received over 580,000 RMB in wages and bonuses from 2020 to 2023, with an annual income exceeding 250,000 RMB in 2022.
Bu admitted to receiving the remuneration but disputed the claim of being a “senior executive.” He stated that he was only responsible for market development and was not a formal member of the company’s senior management.
According to the publicly available board voting records of Xiabei Company, in January 2020, Jindong City Investment, as a new shareholder of Xiabei Company, directly appointed Bu, who had recently been released from prison, as the head of the marketing department and allowed him to attend subsequent board meetings.
Reportedly, Jindong City Investment is a solely state-owned enterprise wholly owned by Jiangsu Jingjiang City Holdings Group.
Xiabei Company was recognized by Taizhou City in 2019 as a construction waste resource utilization enterprise and underwent mixed ownership reform in 2022. After the reform, Jindong City Investment’s equity stake increased to 55%, giving it controlling interest.
At a board meeting in November 2022, personnel voted and signed in, confirming Bu’s participation as a “guest” and noting his status as a “senior executive.”
On December 26, Red Star News reported that legal advisors pointed out that according to the Regulations on the Integrity of Leading Cadres of State-Owned Enterprises, individuals with criminal records who have been sentenced cannot hold leadership positions in state-owned enterprises. Therefore, if Bu’s appointment as a senior executive is confirmed, there are legal risks regarding the appointment process and eligibility.
Jiang, who had served as the deputy general manager of Jindong City Investment, stated that Bu was not a board member and should not be considered a senior executive.
It is said that the discipline inspection and supervision departments have received reports from the founder Wang and are investigating the legality of the appointments. Jiang himself has become a subject of the investigation.
Wang stated that before Jindong City Investment took control, Xiabei Company had an annual revenue of over 20 million RMB, which drastically dropped to just a few hundred thousand RMB in the first half of 2025. This situation has caused issues in advancing investment projects within the central budget, leading to partial fund returns.
He believes that the inadequate implementation of national policies by the management after the mixed-ownership reform, along with project stagnation, has hindered the company’s development and may even lead to the disappearance of the green industry chain.
Audit materials show that several mixed-ownership enterprises promoted by Jindong City Investment locally have experienced operational losses and shareholders have requested liquidation.
Insiders familiar with the local mixed-ownership say that Xiabei Company’s situation highlights a lack of trust between private capital and state-owned capital. An internal document notes that Xiabei Company had “chaotic earlier material management, discrepancies in accounts.”
On December 26, the State-owned Assets Management Office of Jiangyan District stated that Xiabei Company is in a difficult situation and further details will be reported to the leadership of the State-owned Assets Management Office before responding.
In fact, Bu’s situation is not unique. In 2019, Chinese media reported that Wang, former deputy governor of Anhui Province and former secretary of the Fuyang City Committee, who was imprisoned for bribery in 2003, entered a state-owned enterprise after his parole and rose through the ranks, eventually becoming the deputy general manager of Anhui Agricultural Service Co., Ltd. He was arrested again for bribery in the same year.
Former official of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision Ministry, Wang, analyzed in a written piece that many corrupt officials with billions of RMB in assets were “promoted with illnesses.” This includes 24 corrupt officials at the vice-provincial-ministerial level or above who were sentenced in 2025, such as the former head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision Ministry Group in the Central Organization Department, Li, and former member of the Qinghai Provincial Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee, Yang.
The article points out that absolute power inevitably leads to absolute corruption, a timeless truth. As the highest leader in the CCP’s party, government, and military, Xi Jinping seeks “power centralized on oneself,” setting a trend. The result is bound to be: after a batch of corrupt officials with billions of RMB in assets are investigated, another batch of such officials emerges immediately; this vicious cycle will ultimately lead to the party’s self-destruction.