Two China Southern Airlines Co. (1055) executives were removed from their positions after being put under investigation on suspicion of “job-related crimes,” Asia’s largest carrier by passengers said.
The board approved the removal of Chief Financial Officer Xu Jiebo and Executive Vice President Zhou Yuehai and Xu quit as a director, the Guangzhou-based carrier said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange today. Since Dec. 30, the company has announced the removal of four officials under probe.
The Communist Party has intensified efforts to root out corruption since Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ascension to general secretary in November 2012. The probe on China Southern Airlines is part of a third wave of investigations announced Nov. 18 last year that included other state-owned enterprises such as China Unicom Group and Shenhua Group Corp.
A call to the media affairs office of China Southern was directed to the company secretary. Two calls after office hours seeking further comment from the office of company secretary Xie Bing were not answered.
China Southern said Dec. 30 that it removed Executive Vice President Chen Gang and Tian Xiaodong, chief of flight operations, after they were placed under investigation.
Of the two executives whose removals were announced today, Xu has also been China Southern’s chief accountant since April 2001 and concurrently chairman of Guizhou Airlines, China Southern Henan Airlines and a vice-chairman of Sichuan Airlines, according to the company’s website.
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