Former Hudong-Zhonghua Head Charged with Bribe

The former board chairman of China’s state-owned Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard, Gu Tiquan, has been charged for taking bribe by the state’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

Gu Tiquan was arrested in May  under suspicion of having committed “serious violations”.

The charges form part of a comprehensive corruption investigation that has resulted in prosecution of several officials, formerly employed in the shipyard.

Hudong-Zhonghua, owned by shipbuilding conglomerate China State Shipbuilding Corp, is pioneering construction of LNG carriers in China and has  booked construction of 14 LNG tankers, as reported by Reuters.

China has launched an anti-corruption campaign early this year which has combed through various industries including now shipbuilding.

The country is set on bringing order to its fallen shipbuilding industry, which has been facing some turbulent times over the recent period, over-capacity being one of them.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released on September 1, its first “White List” of 51 shipyards eligible for favourable policy support, in an effort to battle over-capacity in the global shipping market.

Many shipbuilding businesses that haven’t made it to the list have been deemed as potential candidates for restructuring.