Former executive at offshoot of Chinese arms giant Norinco under corruption cloud

Xue Jianguo is the latest figure associated with the defence contractor to be placed under investigation

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Several former Norinco executives have been investigated on suspicion of corruption. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:05pm, 24 Jan 2025Updated: 8:13pm, 24 Jan 2025

Xue Jianguo, a former executive at one of China’s largest arms manufacturers who later helped push for civilian use of the BeiDou satellite navigation system, is under investigation for alleged corruption.

Xue, the former chairman and Communist Party secretary of Harbin First Machinery Group, has been placed under investigation on suspicion of “serious violations of discipline and law” – usually a reference to corruption – according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China’s top anti-corruption body.

Harbin First Machinery Group is a subsidiary of China North Industries Group Corporation (Norinco), one of the country’s leading defence contractors.

Xue left his post at the Harbin company in 2010 but later worked with Norinco in promoting the civilian use of BeiDou, a system seen as China’s answer to GPS.

BeiDou was being used by around 1.4 billion devices inside China by the end of 2023, according to an official white paper.

Norinco was authorised in 2015 to oversee the commercial, industrial and civilian applications of BeiDou and to promote the development of related industries.

That same year Xue was appointed as the chairman and party secretary of a Shanghai-based investment company set up by Norinco to work on this project, the business data platform Qichacha shows.