Former Chairman of PetroChina, Wang Yilin, who worked in the petroleum system for more than forty years, was recently arrested by the authorities. On September 3, footage of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China raiding the underground basement of PetroChina’s Chairman Wang Yilin was exposed, sparking heated discussions among netizens.
According to reports from China News Network, Wang Yilin, former Party Secretary and Chairman of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), is suspected of bribery and has been transferred to the procuratorial organ for review and prosecution. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate decided to arrest Wang Yilin on suspicion of taking bribes.
On September 3, Du Wen, former Executive Director of the Legal Advisory Office of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Government, posted on overseas social media platform X (formerly Twitter) saying that the footage of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection raiding the basement of PetroChina’s Chairman Wang Yilin’s home was exposed, with rumors that his embezzlement and bribery amounts to as high as 900 billion yuan (RMB). All the valuable items would take ten trucks a week to transport.
Du Wen also posted a video showing several individuals, believed to be government employees, counting and moving large amounts of RMB in an underground basement. Most of the currency is in denominations of one hundred yuan, with a small amount of fifty yuan bills.
However, the above information has not been officially confirmed.
Some netizens commented, “Why is the price of the oil you add so high? Do you understand?” “When Kun falls, Jiajing eats his fill.” There are also many Chinese Communist Party internet trolls defending the official stance.
Currently, this video has been widely shared on the X platform.
Wang Yilin’s public resume shows that he worked in the petroleum system for over forty years, holding positions such as Deputy Director of the Xinjiang Petroleum Administration, General Manager of CNPC Xinjiang Oilfield Branch, Vice President of CNPC, and Chairman of CNOOC. He served as Chairman and Party Secretary of CNPC in 2015, was removed from office in 2020, and was investigated in February of this year. On July 31, Wang Yilin was expelled from the Party.
According to official reports, Wang Yilin is accused of using public authority for private gain, engaging in power-money exchanges, and illegally accepting huge sums of money for personal gain through job adjustments, project contracting, and business operations, among other activities.
The official report did not specify the exact amount of money Wang Yilin was accused of accepting.
Public information shows that CNPC Group is China’s largest oil and gas producer and distributor. As of the end of 2023, CNPC’s total assets were 4.4756 trillion yuan, with total liabilities of 1.8668 trillion yuan.
On the day Wang Yilin was announced to be arrested, Zhang Yu, former Party Secretary of the Northwest Oilfield Bureau of Sinopec Group, was also announced to be under investigation.
Prior to Wang Yilin’s downfall, several senior executives in the energy sector were investigated. Executives who fell from grace in January of this year include Zhou Zhuye, Vice President of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, Bai Jiancheng, Senior Executive of China Energy Media Group, Guo Zhaohua, former Deputy General Manager of State Energy Group Quasi-Energy Group Co., Ltd., Duan Yanxiu, former Party Secretary of PetroChina Natural Gas Company, and Director of Safety Yinxu.
The energy industry is the lifeblood of the Chinese economy, and its immense wealth and interests have always been a focal point for high-ranking Chinese Communist Party officials.
Commenting on the successive downfall of senior energy executives like Wang Yilin, Li Yanming, a political commentator in the United States, previously told Epoch Times that the Chinese Communist Party’s energy system is a resource-intensive field closely related to foreign diplomacy and trade, directly linked to national welfare and socio-economic stability. The Chinese Communist Party’s energy system has long been manipulated by the privileged interest group led by Jiang Zemin and Zeng Qinghong, deeply corrupt and intricately intertwined with high-level infighting within the party. Against the backdrop of internal and external difficulties facing the CCP, a new wave of cleansing storms is stirring in the energy system, fundamentally reshuffling the playing field of privileged interests and reflecting the escalating internal power struggles within the CCP.