WANG STEPS DOWN AT CHINA PACIFIC

In a move reportedly directed by the State, China Pacific Insurance chairman Wang Guoliang has resigned unexpectedly. China Pacific is scheduled to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange later this year. Mr Wang is understood to have met officials of the Shanghai city government late last week before announcing that he would quit. He is expected to become supervisor of the board of Shanghai Metallurgy Group. Although the movement of Mr Wang was not related to any suggestion of misconduct, the move appears to be one of several instituted by Beijing in recent weeks where senior executives at financial companies have been moved, possibly in a show of strength by the government relating to companies that are subject to significant amounts of foreign investment. Mr Wang had been chairman of China Pacific since 1998. One possible area of disagreement, claimed a Reuters report, was that Mr Wang had backed an educational project at Shanghai’s Fudan University, at a cost of more than 2bn yuan, despite opposition from some other board members and some shareholders.