Shanghai Electric Group Co. Ltd. (601727.SH) said its chairman died in a statement on Thursday, adding even more uncertainty to the struggling conglomerate’s future.

Huang Ou (黄 瓯), who also served as executive director of the Shanghai government-backed energy and industrial equipment maker, died at his apartment in Shanghai’s Puxi district in an apparent suicide on Thursday morning, multiple sources said. in Caixin. No further details regarding his death were available. He was 50 years old.

“During his tenure with the company, Mr. Huang Ou worked hard and made significant contributions to the development of the company. The company expresses its deep sadness on the occasion of the unfortunate passing of Huang and extends its sincere condolences to his family, ”the company said. notice filed (link in Chinese) to the Shanghai Stock Exchange said. Production and operations were continuing normally, the statement said.

The company’s Shanghai-listed shares gained 2.6% on Friday to end the week at 4.3 yuan ($ 0.66).

Huang made his last public appearance on July 29 when he delivered a speech on behalf of the company’s management team at a meeting of the Shanghai Electric company.

Huang’s sudden death comes just nine days after the Shanghai Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission, the city’s anti-corruption watchdog, announced on July 27 (link in Chinese) that the head and chairman of the company’s Communist Party, Zheng jianhua, 61, had been investigated on suspicion of serious breaches of discipline and the law, which is the standard euphemism for bribery and bribery.

The Shanghai conglomerate had already been shaken by a probe announced in early July (link in Chinese) by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) for violating disclosure rules. Sources previously told Caixin that the investigation could be linked to a non-payment scandal disclosed by Shanghai Electric in late May.

The company announced that up to 8.3 billion yuan of net income attributable to shareholders was at risk because four customers of the Shanghai Electric Communication Technologies Co. Ltd. subsidiary, all of which are state-owned enterprises, missed the repayment of a total of 4.5 billion yuan. .

Shanghai Electric’s 7.8 billion yuan loans to the subsidiary were also at risk of being uncollectible, the company said. in a folder (link in Chinese).

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Earlier in April, Lü Yachen, the former vice president of Shanghai Electric who had already retired more than a year earlier, was also under investigation by the city ​​graft breaker (link in Chinese).

Huang, from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, was a veteran of the power generation equipment manufacturing industry. According to a profile on the company’s website, he held various management positions in several of the group’s subsidiaries before being appointed vice president of Shanghai Electric in 2015.

He was also deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Economy and Computerization Commission between 2016 and 2018 before serving as executive director and chairman of Shanghai Electric in September 2018 (link in Chinese).

If you are having thoughts of suicide, seek help from the following sources:

In China, the Beijing Suicide Research and Prevention Center toll free numbers are 800-810-1117 and 010-82951332. In the United States, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.

Contact reporter Kelsey Cheng ([email protected]) and editor Flynn Murphy ([email protected])

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