China jails former chairman of liquor big Moutai for all times for corruption

Within the newest instance of Beijing’s long-running crackdown on corruption, a court docket within the firm’s house province of Guizhou on Thursday sentenced Yuan Renguo for accepting bribes, together with property, value almost 113 million Chinese language yuan ($17.5 million).

In a press release, the court docket stated that an investigation discovered he had used his varied positions at Kweichow Moutai between 1994 and 2018 to assist distributors safe offers for Moutai baijiu, the corporate’s massively standard luxurious spirit.

Moutai baijiu is a transparent, potent spirit that is been dubbed “firewater,” due to the truth that it is 53% alcohol. The red-and-white bottles of its flagship product, “Feitian,” or “Flying Fairy,” are a staple at Chinese language state banquets and enterprise occasions. It was additionally identified to be the favourite tipple of Mao Zedong, founding father of Communist China.

The court docket stated that Yuan had confessed to most of his crimes and was due to this fact “punished evenly,” including that each one his non-public property had been confiscated.

Yuan’s sentencing serves as a stark reminder of Beijing’s long-running clampdown on corruption, which has affected Moutai beforehand.

In 2013, the corporate’s gross sales slumped and its share value tumbled when President Xi Jinping launched into a drive to stamp out extravagant spending amongst officers, together with on costly liquor.

Nonetheless, it stays one in every of China’s most precious corporations with a market capitalization larger than the mixed worth of worldwide distillers ABInBev (BUDFF), Diageo (DEO) and Heineken (HEINY).

China repeatedly investigates highly effective executives for corruption — whereas utilizing the findings to ship a warning to others. In January, a Chinese language court docket sentenced the previous chairman of one in every of China’s greatest asset administration corporations, Lai Xiaomin, to loss of life after discovering him responsible of bribery.

Yuan’s sentencing takes place in opposition to a wider crackdown on non-public enterprise by Xi, which has squeezed China’s tech giants and heaped strain on outstanding enterprise leaders, comparable to Jack Ma of Alibaba (BABA).

— Shawn Deng, Laura He and Michelle Toh contributed reporting.