China Southern Airlines Co.,
Ltd has removed Peng Anfa from its board of directors after he
was arrested on suspicion of corruption.
China Southern, one of the country's top three airlines, said on
Sunday night that all its board members agreed on the decision,
which is subject to examination and approval at an upcoming
stockholders' meeting.
Peng, 47, had been deputy general manager of China Southern
Airlines Group, which holds the majority of shares in China
Southern, since September 2002. Peng was primarily in charge of the
group's finance department.
Peng is suspected of taking bribes, and was taken away by
officials of the Central Commission for Disciplinary
Inspection?of the Communist Party of China for interrogation
in early July. He was formally arrested last week, according to a
woman surnamed Huang at the company's political work
department.
In June, Chen Liming, former director of the group's finance
department, was also taken in by the commission for
interrogation.
It is reported that China Southern Airlines Group entrusted the
recently shut down Shanghai-based Hantang Securities to carry out
financial operations involving 1.1 billion yuan (US$135.64
million).
Hantang Securities was closed down for malpractice and is now in
liquidation.
Following Peng's arrest, China Southern issued a notice saying
that his alleged misconduct has nothing to do with the company and
will not influence its operations.
Investors, however, are not so sure and the company's share
price has dipped, closing yesterday at 2.76 yuan (34 US cents) on
the Shanghai
Stock Exchange, down from an opening of 2.8 yuan (35 US cents).
In February, its share price was 5.02 yuan (62 US cents).
(China Daily August 16, 2005)