The head of China’s largest state-backed semiconductor investment fund is under investigation, the country’s corruption watchdog said.
Big Fund head Ding Wenwu is “suspected of serious violations of the law” said the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and faces a disciplinary review.
It did not disclose more details. The Big Fund did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Ding Wenwu was unable to be reached.
The move comes just two weeks after a similar investigation was announced into a former executive of the firm.
China launched the Big Fund in 2014 as a means to accelerate its semiconductor industry, which is considered to lag behind that of the United States, Taiwan and South Korea.
The organisation raised 138.7 billion yuan ($20.54 billion) for its first fund, and 204 billion yuan for its second fund.
Over the years, the fund has provided financing to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, China’s leading chip fab, plus Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC), a maker of flash memory chips, plus a number of smaller companies and funds.
In July, the CCDI announced it had placed Lu Jun, former head of investment firm Sino IC Capital, which managed the Big Fund, under investigation, citing “serious violation of discipline and the law.”
- Reuters, with additional editing by Alfie Habershon
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