Former Vice President of China Industrial and Commercial Bank, Zhang Hongli, who fell from grace a year ago, stood trial for bribery with an amount exceeding 177 million yuan (RMB).
On November 14th, the Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Zhejiang Province publicly held the first trial of Zhang Hongli, former member of the Party Committee and vice president of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, on charges of bribery.
The Hangzhou City Prosecutor’s Office accused Zhang Hongli of using his position as a member of the Party Committee and vice president of China Industrial and Commercial Bank from 2011 to 2022 to provide assistance to relevant units and individuals in matters such as loans, financing, and job arrangements, by directly or through others illegally accepting more than 177 million yuan in assets. The prosecution requested that Zhang Hongli be held criminally responsible for bribery.
Zhang Hongli pleaded guilty in court, and the sentencing date will be announced.
On November 4, 2023, Zhang Hongli was officially removed from his position. On May 9th of this year, he was expelled from the Party, arrested on May 16th, and transferred to judicial authorities, and was indicted by the end of August.
According to a May 9th announcement from the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Zhang Hongli was accused of being “addicted to power, associating with political brokers, engaging in exchange of interests,” “reading books with serious political issues,” “using the private jet of a managed service target for free,” “deceiving to obtain a doctoral degree,” and “conducting extensive power and money transactions,” and more.
Public records show that the 59-year-old Zhang Hongli had long worked in foreign institutions. He joined Deutsche Bank in 2001 and served for 10 years, eventually holding positions as the President of the Global Banking Business in the Asia-Pacific region and Chairman of the China region before leaving.
In April 2010, the 45-year-old Zhang Hongli became Vice President of China Industrial and Commercial Bank, in charge of overseas business and investment banking, becoming the first foreign bank executive to directly assume the position of Vice President of one of the four major state-owned commercial banks.
Starting from June 2015, Zhang Hongli served as an Executive Director of China Industrial and Commercial Bank. In July 2018, he resigned from the position of Vice President and subsequently joined the private equity firm Houpu Investment as a Partner and Co-Chairman of the Board.
In 2014, during his tenure as Vice President of Industrial and Commercial Bank, Zhang Hongli was sued by his former employer Deutsche Bank. The lawsuit showed that Deutsche Bank claimed Zhang Hongli had transferred nearly 4 million U.S. dollars to an empty company named Harperskille during his tenure, “illegally utilizing” bank funds, leading to a claim of 6.317 million U.S. dollars against him.
The New York Times and the South Deutsche Zeitung jointly reported in 2019 that Deutsche Bank hired hundreds of princelings in its branches in China and Hong Kong to secure orders for the bank, with Zhang Hongli being the driving force behind this operation.