More executives of state-owned grain companies face corruption charges

Anti-corruption actions in China’s grain industry continue this week with two more announcements coming from the government.  

The former deputy general manager of Sinograin’s Anhui Branch, Hu Qun, was referred to prosecutors after a corruption investigation that began in April.  

In their announcement, the corruption investigation agency cited a wide range of corruption related to his role in the purchase and sale of grain, renting out of government warehouses and storage facilities, and accepting bribes.  

His acceptance of bribes was “particularly large”. For context, Sinograin Anhui Branch had 10.8 million tons of grain in storage, according to a separate state media report in June. 

On Thursday, it was separately announced that investigators had launched a corruption investigation into Hu Junlie, the former chairman of state-owned Chongqing Grain Group.  

Hu retired from his chairman role in 2013. His successor was also investigated for corruption in 2018 and sentenced to over 10 years in prison in 2021.  

Anti-corruption campaigns have been a major government policy push in recent years, but state-owned grain companies and stockpilers have received additional attention due to the renewed focus on food security.