On Friday, July 12th, Jiang Yingchun, the former general manager of Poly Culture Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Poly Culture”), a subsidiary of China Poly Group Corporation (hereinafter referred to as “Poly Group”), was officially announced to have been removed from office.
According to the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission of the Communist Party of China on July 12th, Jiang Yingchun, a member of the Poly Group Party Committee and former Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of Poly Culture, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, and is currently under investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission stationed at the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council and the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Commission of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
Public records show that Jiang Yingchun was born in February 1969. In December 2001, he was appointed as the assistant general manager of Poly Culture, later promoted to vice general manager; in December 2010, he became the CEO and executive director; in December 2020, he assumed the role of general manager of Poly Culture, and resigned on August 31, 2021. Additionally, Jiang Yingchun was named the so-called “model of central enterprises” in 2019.
Jiang Yingchun has served as the Secretary of the Poly Culture Party Committee, director, and general manager, as well as the chairman of Beijing Poly Theatre Management Co., Ltd., Beijing Poly International Auction Co., Ltd., Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited, and Poly Film Investment Co., Ltd., among other positions.
Poly Culture, a subsidiary of China Poly Group, was established in 2000 and listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2014. Its main businesses include performance and theatre management, art operation and auction, and cinema investment management.
Currently, Poly Theatre has a network of 49 theaters under its management, making it the largest theatre chain in the country; its annual turnover in art auctions maintains a leading position in the industry nationally; and Poly Movie Line, with 121 directly operated and franchised cinemas, has a total of 729 screens.
The predecessor of the Poly Group was Poly Technology Co., Ltd., established in 1993, a large central enterprise managed by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. Poly Technology Co., Ltd. was jointly funded by the former General Equipment Department and CITIC Group to engage in the import and export of military equipment. Its founders included Deng Xiaoping’s son-in-law, He Ping, and the son of the former Vice Chairman of the Communist Party, Wang Zhen, Wang Jun.
The son of Chinese General Luo Ruiqing, Luo Yu, revealed the insider story of the Communist Party’s frenzy in selling military weapons for huge profits.
Having settled in the United States, Luo Yu disclosed in his memoir “Farewell to the General Staff Headquarters” that during the Iran-Iraq War, the Communist Party sold military weapons to both Iran and Iraq simultaneously. Particularly high in demand were large caliber shells, with Communist Party factories operating at full capacity, producing 24 hours a day but still unable to meet the demand. The Poly Group acquired these weapons from the military industry department and sold them off. Several air defense missile battalions’ equipment was sold to Iran, leaving the Chinese military without weaponry, making them look far from a proper military force.
Chinese affairs expert Wang He once said that the influence of the Poly Group is formidable. However, following the death of Wang Jun, the political influence of the Poly Group in the country has significantly declined. Xi Jinping should have taken action against the Poly Group a long time ago if he intended to do so.
Editor-in-chief of “Beijing Spring” magazine, Hu Ping, believes that if Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign does not target the Poly Group, those who have been targeted by him and their associates will feel even more aggrieved. Investigating the Poly Group, however, will unsettle the entire military establishment, making the situation even more intense. Therefore, Xi Jinping faces a dilemma in dealing with this issue, regardless of his approach.