What’s new: Ding Wei, a former vice president of China Merchants Bank Co. Ltd. (CMB), has been placed under investigations for suspected severe violations of law and discipline, China’s anti-graft watchdog said Wednesday.
Ding, 67, joined the CMB in 1996 and served as head of the bank’s branches in Hangzhou and Nanchang. He was named vice president in 2007, a position he held until May 2017. Before CMB, Ding had spent more than a decade in the Industrial and Commerce Bank of China Ltd., the country’s largest state-owned lender by asset.
After leaving CMB, Ding took executive roles in several tech firms and financial institutions.
Background: CMB is the largest among China’s 12 national joint-stock lenders and a key subsidiary of state-owned conglomerate China Merchants Group.
By the end of March, the bank had 11.5 trillion yuan ($1.6 trillion) in assets, up 4.46% from the end of 2023. Its first quarter revenue fell 4.65% to 86.4 billion yuan, with net profit down 1.96% to 38 billion yuan, according to its financial report.
The investigation into Ding came amid an intensifying anti-corruption crackdown on China Merchants Group. Earlier this month, Chen Mingli, former general manager of Shenzhen Merchants Ping’an Asset Management Co. Ltd., became the subject of a probe by anti-graft investigators.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)
