Former Deputy Chairman of China Construction Bank Zhang Hongli, who had been disgraced for over nine months, has been formally charged with corruption recently.
According to the latest announcement from the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of the Chinese Communist Party on August 29, the investigation into the bribery case involving Zhang Hongli, former member of the Party Committee and Deputy Chairman of China Construction Bank Limited, has concluded. As designated by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the case has been transferred to the Hangzhou City Procuratorate in Zhejiang Province for prosecution. The Hangzhou City Procuratorate has filed a public prosecution against him recently.
On November 4, 2023, Zhang Hongli was officially removed from office. On May 9 of this year, he was expelled from the party, arrested on May 16, and handed over to the judicial system.
According to the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Discipline Inspection Commission on May 9, Zhang Hongli was accused of “being intrigued by officialdom, associating with political brokers for profit swapping,” “reading books with serious political issues,” “using a private jet of a management service target for free,” “deceptively obtaining a doctorate degree,” and “engaging in power and money exchanges,” among other allegations.
At the age of 59, Zhang Hongli had previously worked as the Chief Representative of the China Representative Office at Goldman Sachs and held positions at foreign institutions such as Schroder International Merchant Bank in the UK and Hewlett-Packard in the US. He had a long-standing tenure at Deutsche Bank where he served as the Chief Executive of Investment Banking for the Asia-Pacific region, Asia-Pacific Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of Deutsche Bank (China) Limited.
In 2010, China Construction Bank decided to appoint Zhang Hongli as Deputy Chairman, responsible for overseas business and investment banking. He was the first executive selected by the Central Organization of the Chinese Communist Party from a foreign financial institution.
From June 2015, Zhang Hongli served as an Executive Director of China Construction Bank. In July 2018, Zhang resigned from his position as Deputy Chairman of the bank and subsequently joined the private equity firm Houpo Investment as Co-Chairman.
However, in 2014, while serving as Deputy Chairman of China Construction Bank, Zhang Hongli was sued by his former employer Deutsche Bank. The lawsuit revealed that during his employment, Zhang had transferred nearly $4 million to an empty company named Harperskille, “illegally appropriating” bank funds, leading to a claim of $6.317 million against him.
Taiwanese financial expert Huang Shicong previously told Da Ji Yuan that Zhang Hongli had close relations with many senior Communist Party officials during his time at Deutsche Bank. After leaving Deutsche Bank, he started his own business, and Houpo Investment raised billions of US dollars. There are rumors that a large portion of the funds came from influential figures. The investigation into Zhang Hongli indicates that the authorities are looking into the origins of these funds. Those princelings who had connections with Zhang Hongli, as well as factional leaders or former individuals in charge of finance, might be in jeopardy.