China's Anti-Corruption Watchdog Targets Aviation Industry

Senior Chinese airline and aviation officials misused company funds, took bribes and accepted golf outings as gifts, the country's anti-corruption watchdog said in a series of inspection reports.

The Communist Party's official newspaper and its economic planning agency were also singled out by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) in its latest reports under President Xi Jinping's three-year-old anti-graft drive.

At Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), the manufacturer of China's C919, officials were found to have taken unnecessary trips overseas at company expense and used company money to pay for personal expenses, the CCDI said in its reports.

Executives at Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), a shareholder of Comac, accepted bribes or received kickbacks from suppliers, CCDI said. Others took trips and played golf at company expense.

The CCDI said it also uncovered bribe-taking, at the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the industry regulator, as well as at China Eastern Airlines and the parent of Air China.

Comac Chairman Jin Zhuanglong, AVIC Chairman Lin Zuoming and China Eastern Chairman Liu Shaoyong accepted the CCDI findings and pledged to take action, according to the commission's reports.

China Southern Airlines, the first state carrier investigated by CCDI earlier this year, has closed overseas bank accounts, taken action against corrupt executives and stopped free rounds of golf courses for premier clients in the wake of CCDI inspection tours.