China's anti-corruption drive reaches former Development Bank president

China's anti-corruption watchdog has launched an investigation into Ouyang Weimin, the former president of the China Development Bank (CDB), over suspected serious disciplinary and legal violations, according to a Reuters report.

The announcement was made on Sunday by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China's top anti-corruption agency.

The watchdog did not disclose details of the allegations or the period during which the alleged violations took place.

The latest probe comes just a year after a former vice president of the China Development Bank was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined for accepting bribes, highlighting the continued scrutiny of senior officials in China's financial sector.

Not the first corruption case at the bank

This is not the first time that a senior China Development Bank official has come under investigation.

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In 2019, the CCDI launched a corruption probe against Hu Huaibang, the bank's former chairman, who led the institution for five years until stepping down in September 2018.

The China Development Bank is one of China's three policy banks responsible for financing major government-backed infrastructure projects both within the country and overseas. Often referred to as "Beijing's super bank," it had total assets of around $2.35 trillion at the end of that year.

Previous allegations against former chairman

The anti-graft agency did not publicly explain the reasons behind its investigation into Hu. However, Reuters reported at the time that his name surfaced during the corruption trial of Wang Sanyun, the former Communist Party chief of Gansu province.

According to court proceedings, Hu allegedly acted as an intermediary in passing bribes to Wang on behalf of Ye Jianming, the former chairman of CEFC China Energy, once one of China's largest private companies.

Media reports also said Wang used Hu to help CEFC Shanghai, a subsidiary of CEFC China Energy, acquire equity stakes in the Bank of Hainan. Hu was also allegedly linked to a deal in which Wang helped another CEFC subsidiary secure a $4.8 billion line of credit.

While it remains unclear whether the allegations against Hu were directly connected to the wider corruption cases involving Wang and Ye, the investigation was widely viewed as a significant development because of the China Development Bank's central role in financing Beijing's strategic projects.

The fresh investigation into Ouyang Weimin suggests that China's anti-corruption campaign continues to focus on senior figures in the country's powerful financial institutions, with authorities maintaining pressure on officials accused of misconduct.