On Thursday, October 17th, the former deputy general manager of COFCO Group, Zhou Zheng, stood trial in a corruption, bribery, and abuse of power case where he was accused of causing a loss of over 101 million yuan in state-owned assets.
On October 17th, the Intermediate People’s Court of Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, held an open trial for the case involving Zhou Zheng, former party member and deputy general manager of COFCO Group Limited, accused of bribery, corruption, and abuse of power.
The Yuncheng City Procuratorate alleged that from 1998 to 2023, Zhou Zheng, while holding positions such as General Manager of Hangzhou COFCO Metain Container Co., Ltd., General Manager of COFCO Packaging Co., Ltd., Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of COFCO Land Co., Ltd., Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Daiyu City Holdings Group Co., Ltd., as well as member of the party committee and deputy general manager of COFCO Group Limited, abused his position to accept bribes amounting to over 6.05 million yuan.
From 2003 to 2021, leveraging his roles as General Manager of Hangzhou COFCO Metain Container Co., Ltd., Deputy General Manager of COFCO Group Limited, Chairman of COFCO Real Estate (Group) Co., Ltd., Chairman of COFCO Land Co., Ltd., Chairman of Daiyu City Holdings Group Co., Ltd., Zhou Zheng embezzled public funds totaling more than 2.41 million yuan through the fraudulent reporting of housing incentives, fictitious expenses, and inflated bonuses.
In 2013 and 2014, Zhou Zheng, while serving as Chairman of COFCO Land Co., Ltd., and Chairman of COFCO Real Estate Group Shenzhen Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., abused his power and violated regulations to drive related projects, resulting in a loss of state-owned assets exceeding 101 million yuan.
The prosecution has requested to hold Zhou Zheng accountable for the crimes of bribery, corruption, and abuse of power.
Zhou Zheng admitted guilt in court, and the sentencing will be announced at a later date.
On November 8, 2023, Zhou Zheng was investigated, then arrested on May 9 of this year and expelled from the party. He was formally charged on August 8.
Public records show that the 61-year-old Zhou Zheng previously worked at the former Ministry of Aerospace Industry’s 609th Research Institute. In June 2008, he was appointed as General Manager of COFCO Real Estate (Group) Co., Ltd., and in December 2010, he assumed the position of Chairman of COFCO Real Estate. Zhou Zheng became Vice President of COFCO Group in 2012, joined the party committee of COFCO Group in December 2013, and became Chairman and Executive Director of Dayuecheng Real Estate Co., Ltd., starting in 2013.
Notably, following Zhou Zheng’s downfall, several other officials from COFCO Group have also been placed under investigation.
According to earlier reports from the media, on December 26, 2023, Chen Debong, former General Manager of COFCO Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., was investigated. On January 16, 2024, Cao Ronggen, General Manager of Dayuecheng Holdings Group Co., Ltd., under COFCO Group was also investigated. On February 1, the former Chief Engineer and Safety Director of COFCO Group, Tong Yi, was placed under investigation. Lastly, on February 21, Sun Tianli, former Deputy Director of the COFCO Nutrition and Health Research Institute, was also investigated.