After Launching Probe on Cabinet Minister, Xi Targets Head of China’s ‘Big Fund’

China is probing the head of the state-run semiconductor fund days after it launched an investigation on minister of industry and information technology Xiao Yaqing for alleged disciplinary violations, news agency Bloomberg reported.

The Chinese government’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said it is probing Ding Wenwu, general manager of the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Co. Ltd for alleged ‘serious violation of discipline and law’.

Ding is the head of what China calls its ‘Big Fund’ – a key part of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) drive to build its homegrown integrated circuit industry to end reliance on imported technology, new agency Caixin reported.

The CCDI is China’s topmost anti-corruption watchdog.

This remains unclear if both cases are linked.

The announcement of the probe comes months before Xi Jinping begins his unprecedented third term and is the latest in a series of probes where top officials associated with China’s chip policy and investment are being targeted.

Along with minister Xiao Yaqing and semiconductor fund head Ding, a probe was also launched against Zhao Weiguo, former chairman of the Tsinghua Unigroup.

Tsinghua Unigroup was once considered a national champion in the semiconductor industry but had to wind up operations after coming under a mountain of debt.

Yaqing is the seniormost sitting member of the cabinet who is being probed for alleged irregularities.

He has been a member of the cabinet since 2016.

His absence from a list of central government officials slated to attend the upcoming Party Congress attracted public attention.

Xiao’s ministry was responsible for building technologies to boost Chinese industries, including the semiconductor and aviation industry, and also support Chinese startup companies across several sectors, including chip-making and biotech industries.

The nature of Xiao’s alleged crimes was not revealed.

The Chinese regulators released a generic statement saying the minister was in ‘violation of discipline and law’.

Xiao’s ministry was the regulator for China’s heavy industry, automobile, telecom and electronics sectors, overseeing companies from Huawei Technologies Co. to Xiaomi Corp and the minister was also the former head of China’s state-owned assets watchdog, Bloomberg reported.

The arrests could be a result of Xi Jinping’s so-called crackdown on corruption which is a tool to subdue dissidents within the Communist Party of China (CPC) who may be opposed to Xi seeking a third term as president.

A report by the Wall Street Journal revealed that Xi Jinping promoted his loyalists and sidelined figures who were close to premier Li Keqiang.

(with inputs from Caixin and Bloomberg)

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