Chinese Bank President Liu Jin Absent from Board Meeting, Reportedly Disgraced

According to reports, Liu Jin, the president of the Bank of China, has been arrested and reportedly surrendered himself.

Hong Kong media HKTV reported that there has been a change in the position of the president of the Bank of China, with Liu Jin no longer serving as the president. It is rumored that he has been arrested and surrendered himself. However, the official Chinese Communist Party has not yet announced any relevant information.

According to reports from Manager Magazine and Jintong News, Liu Jin, 57 years old, who has been the president of the Bank of China for over three years, was absent from a recent board meeting of the Bank of China.

On the evening of August 19, the Bank of China announced that the company held its seventh board meeting of 2024 in Beijing on that day using on-site voting. The meeting notice was delivered to all directors and supervisors of the Bank by written and email methods on August 12.

The announcement indicated that the meeting was chaired by Chairman Ge Haijiao, with 14 directors supposed to attend, and 13 directors did attend. Vice Chairman and Executive Director Liu Jin did not attend the meeting due to other arrangements.

Jintong News noted that at this board meeting, Liu Jin did not authorize another director to attend and vote on his behalf.

In a previous announcement by the Board of the Bank of China, if a director is unable to attend in person, the reason is usually stated in the announcement, such as “due to other important duties.” Usually, another director is also appointed to attend and vote on his behalf.

Reports say that a similar situation occurred in the Bank of China before.

On March 9, 2023, during a board meeting of the Bank of China, then Chairman Liu Liange and Director Wang Wei did not attend the meeting. The announcement did not specify the exact reasons, and no other director was appointed to attend and vote, resulting in a situation where 15 directors had a total of 13 votes, which is in accordance with relevant regulations.

However, at that time, then Chairman Liu Liange was removed from his position as party secretary and was officially arrested on March 31. Director Wang Wei also resigned on March 21 due to age reasons.

Liu Jin had worked with Liu Liange. On April 24 of this year, Liu Liange’s bribery and illegal loan case went to trial. Liu was accused of accepting bribes totaling more than 121 million yuan and illegally issuing a total of more than 3.32 billion yuan in loans, resulting in a principal loss of over 190 million yuan.

A public resume shows that Liu Jin was born in 1967, graduated from Shandong University with a degree in English language and literature, and holds a master’s degree in literature. He also holds the title of senior economist.

Liu Jin started his career at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, serving as Vice Chairman of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Europe, Executive Director, General Manager, and General Manager of the Frankfurt Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. He also served as General Manager of the Investment Banking Department at the head office and as President of the Jiangsu Branch.

In November 2019, Liu Jin was transferred from Vice Chairman of the China Development Bank to Deputy Party Secretary of Everbright Bank. In January 2020, he became the president and in March an executive director. Additionally, he was appointed as a member of the Party Committee and Executive Director of the Everbright Group.

On February 25, 2021, Liu Jin officially joined the Bank of China as Deputy Party Secretary and was set to be appointed Vice Chairman and President. On March 16 of the same year, the Board of the Bank of China approved the appointment of Liu Jin as President. His appointment was officially approved on April 26, and Liu Jin formally assumed the role of President.