China Investigating Senior Official at Anticompetition Watchdog -- Update

By Richard Silk 

BEIJING--Chinese anticorruption agents are investigating a senior official at a government agency that has probed Microsoft Corp. and global pharmaceutical majors amid China's tougher enforcement of its anticompetition laws.

Sun Hongzhi, vice minister of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, has been put under investigation, the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a one-line statement posted on its website Friday.

The 49-year-old Mr. Sun is accused of "serious discipline violations," the statement said, a standard euphemism for corruption. Under usual procedures, the Communist Party investigates officials internally first, before handing them over to civil authorities.

The SAIC didn't respond to a request for comment.

The agency, China's antimonopoly and business standards watchdog, gained a higher profile this year with a series of investigations into foreign companies.

In July, Chinese investigators conducted surprise inspections at Microsoft offices in Beijing and other cities. The SAIC said Microsoft had failed to disclose information on the security features of some of its products. The investigation has yet to be completed.

Microsoft said in September that it was "committed to complying with China's laws and addressing SAIC's questions and concerns."

The SAIC was also involved in bribery investigations into a clutch of foreign drug companies, including GlaxoSmithKline PLC. Glaxo was fined nearly $500 million by a Chinese court in September after an investigation lasting more than a year. Foreign auto makers and chip manufacturers have also been probed by the SAIC.

The head of the agency told a conference in Beijing on Thursday that cracking down on monopolies and commercial espionage would remain the SAIC's priority in 2015, according to the state-owned China Daily newspaper.

A wide-ranging campaign against corruption and waste has been the signature policy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who took office last year. Among the thousands of officials snared so far, the highest ranking is Zhou Yongkang, a former head of China's internal security apparatus long considered untouchable.

Write to Richard Silk at [e-mail]

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