HONG KONG: State-owned investment company Central Huijin Investment said its president has left his post after the company’s share sale of state banks was cited by traders as a factor behind a plunge in China’s stock markets last week.
Xie Zhichun “will no longer serve as president of the company,” Central Huijin, an asset management company controlled by Beijing, said in a statement posted on its website on Friday.
Xie will also no longer serve as executive director after approval from the State Council, Central Huijin said. It did not name his replacement.
The company did not give a reason for Xie’s departure, which came three days after it sold a combined 3.5 billion yuan (HK$4.37 billion) worth of mainland-listed shares in China Construction Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
Traders said the sharp drop in China’s stock markets was partly due to news that Central Huijin had reduced its holdings in CCB and ICBC, both of which are index heavyweights.
The company cited Ding Xuedong, chairman of Central Huijin, as saying he “appreciates Xie’s contributions, including pushing forward Central Huijin’s reform and development and enhancing the work of equity management and improving corporate governance of the institutions invested in and held directly by Central Huijin.”
China’s stock markets plunged on Thursday, with indexes dropping more than 6 percent in record turnover as investors rushed to sell after more brokers tightened margin trading requirements for clients and the central bank drained money market liquidity.
