Fu Chengyu: anti-corruption campaign needed for oil industry

Fu Chengyu, former chairman of Sinopec Group and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, at a briefing on Mar 11, 2016. [China Daily/Wang Zhuangfei]

China needs to further eliminate the aftermath of corruption related to Zhou Yongkang and deepen the structural reform in the oil industry, said Fu Chengyu, former chairman of Sinopec Group and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, on Friday.

He said Zhou’s case not only harmed the Party and the country’s interests, but also brought extremely negative impact onto China's oil industry.

Zhou, the country's former security chief, was sentenced to life imprisonment for accepting bribes, abusing his power and deliberately disclosing State secrets last year.

Zhou once served as the top official of the China National Petroleum Corp, the largest oil giant in the country.

Zhou had huge influence in China's oil industry, which provided him with opportunities to trade his power for money.

A number of senior officials related to Zhou in CNPC were arrested during the country's anti-corruption campaign in the energy industry, especially in the State-owned oil companies in the past two years.

China's top three oil companies, namely CNPC, Sinopec and CNOOC Group, dominate a high percentage of the country's oil and gas industry, from the upstream exploration, refining to petroleum retailing.

"For the outsiders, they are three oil companies. In fact, each single company itself is a complete oil industrial system, which urgently requires reform at present," Fu said. "The anti-corruption campaign will help the industry to develop healthily. Otherwise, we will be unable to build up real world-class oil companies."