The former chairman and former general manager of the world's top 500 central enterprises were investigated on the same day

China News Weekly

2024-05-14 11:11 Published on the official account of China News Weekly in Beijing

The anti-corruption of central enterprises continued, and after nearly 6 years of retirement, Ren Jianxin, the former chairman of China National Chemical Corporation, was investigated. On the same day as Ren Jianxin, the official announcement was investigated, as well as the former general manager Yang Xingqiang.

On May 11, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission showed that according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission in the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council and the Zhejiang Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision: Ren Jianxin, former secretary of the Party Committee and chairman of China National Chemical Corporation, and Yang Xingqiang, former deputy secretary of the Party Committee and general manager, are suspected of serious violations of discipline and law.

Ren Jianxin is 66 years old this year, born in Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, has worked in the field of chemical industry for more than 40 years, in the early years of Dunhuang County, Gansu Province, in the countryside to cut the team, and later engaged in lathe, fitter, file management in the former Ministry of Chemical Industry Lanzhou Chemical Machinery Research Institute and served as the secretary of the Youth League Committee.

In the eighties and nineties of the 20th century, Ren Jianxin founded a cleaning company and served as the general manager of the company, and later China Bluestar Chemical Cleaning Corporation was established, he served as the general manager of the company, and also served as the vice president of China Haohua Chemical (Group) Corporation.

In 2004, China Bluestar (Group) Corporation and China Haohua Chemical (Group) Corporation, a former enterprise directly under the Ministry of Chemical Industry, were reorganized to establish China National Chemical Corporation, and Ren Jianxin successively served as general manager and chairman of China National Chemical Corporation, and retired in June 2018.

Yang Xingqiang, 57 years old, a native of Jingning County, Gansu Province, has served as the general manager of China Bluestar (Group) Corporation, and the deputy general manager and general manager of China National Chemical Corporation.

Years of superior-subordinate relationship

The former chairman and former general manager of China National Chemical Corporation were officially announced to be investigated on the same day, which is relatively rare in the anti-corruption of central enterprises. The resume shows that Ren Jianxin and Yang Xingqiang have a deep intersection of work, and the two have been in a relationship between superiors and subordinates for many years.

When Ren Jianxin was the general manager of ChemChina, Yang Xingqiang served as the assistant to the general manager of ChemChina, the general manager of China Bluestar (Group) Corporation, and the deputy general manager of ChemChina. When Ren Jianxin was the chairman of ChemChina, Yang Xingqiang was the general manager of ChemChina.

ChemChina is one of the world's top 500 companies. In March 2021, ChemChina and Sinochem Corporation jointly reorganized and established Sinochem Holdings Co., Ltd., which was integrated into Sinochem.

It is worth mentioning that in June 2018, after Ren Jianxin retired, Yang Xingqiang continued to serve as the general manager of ChemChina. After the restructuring and merger of China National Chemical Corporation and Sinochem Group, Yang Xingqiang was transferred to the general manager of China Salt Industry Group in May 2021.

In August 2022, the leadership team of China Salt Industry Group was adjusted, and since then, there have been few reports about Yang Xingqiang on the Internet and in the media.

It has set off a number of commercial mergers and acquisitions

In the field of chemical industry, Ren Jianxin is quite well-known for two main reasons, one is the establishment of Bluestar Company, and the other is to set off a number of commercial mergers and acquisitions in the process of enterprise development, and has been called the "king of mergers and acquisitions" by the media.

According to previous media reports and Ren Jianxin's own account, the story of Bluestar dates back to 1984. This year, Ren Jianxin, the 26-year-old former secretary of the Youth League Committee of Lanzhou Chemical Machinery Research Institute of the Ministry of Chemical Industry, borrowed 10,000 yuan and led people to establish the predecessor of Bluestar Cleaning Company - the former Chemical Cleaning Corporation of the Chemical Machinery Research Institute of the Ministry of Chemical Industry.

After the establishment of this company, Ren Jianxin's identity changed from the secretary of the Youth League Committee of Lanzhou Chemical Machinery Research Institute to the manager of the Chemical Cleaning Corporation of the Chemical Machinery Research Institute of the former Ministry of Chemical Industry. In 1989, Bluestar Chemical Cleaning Group Co., Ltd. was established, and Ren Jianxin served as the general manager of Bluestar Chemical Cleaning Group Co., Ltd., and later served as the general manager of China Bluestar Chemical Cleaning Corporation and the general manager of China Bluestar (Group) Corporation.

Yang Xingqiang has also worked in Bluestar for many years, and has served as the manager of Bluestar Cleaning Agent Co., Ltd., the manager of the Northwest Branch of Bluestar, the director of Lanzhou Daily Chemical Plant of Bluestar, and the assistant to the general manager, deputy general manager and general manager of China Bluestar (Group) Corporation.

In 2004, China Bluestar (Group) Corporation and China Haohua Chemical (Group) Corporation merged and reorganized into China National Chemical Corporation, and Ren Jianxin served as the general manager of the group.

In the course of Bluestar's development, Ren Jianxin has initiated a series of mergers and acquisitions, such as the acquisition of Adisseo in France, Kenos in Australia, Elkem in Norway, and REC Solar.

During his tenure at ChemChina, Ren Jianxin also led many mergers and acquisitions. In 2015, ChemChina acquired a 26.2% stake in Pirelli through a wholly-owned subsidiary. Pirelli is the world's fifth-largest tyre manufacturer, with a total transaction size of approximately RMB55.2 billion.

In 2017, ChemChina completed the acquisition of Swiss agrochemical and seed giant Syngenta. The acquisition took two years and cost about US$43 billion (about 310 billion yuan), setting a record for the largest amount of a single acquisition by a Chinese enterprise overseas.

Because of many M&A cases, some media have called Ren Jianxin "China's M&A King". However, mergers and acquisitions have brought about an increase in the size and revenue of the enterprise, but also put a heavy burden on the enterprise, resulting in poor profitability results.

Previously, the media mentioned that the Fortune Global 500 data showed that since 2012, the profit margin of ChemChina has been negative, and reached an all-time low in 2018, with a profit margin of -3.3%, which rebounded to -1.3% in 2020.

Ren Jianxin retired in 2018, and the then chairman of Sinochem Group concurrently served as chairman of ChemChina. Some media pointed out that one of the purposes of the merger and reorganization of China National Chemical Corporation and Sinochem Group in 2021 is to resolve the debt problem caused by the acquisition.

Author: Tong Xizhong

View original image 168K

•