THE former chairman of state-owned Chinese banking giant Everbright Group has been arrested on suspicion of corruption and bribery, prosecutors said on Monday.

The national corruption authority had “concluded its investigation into the suspected corruption and bribery case of Tang Shaungning, former party secretary and chairman of China Everbright Group, and transferred the case to the procuratorate for review and prosecution”, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Monday.

The Communist Party’s corruption watchdog said earlier this month that it was kicking Tang out of the party for alleged misbehaviour such as bringing unauthorised political books into the country and illegally accepting gifts including “famous artists’ calligraphy and paintings”.

Tang “coveted pleasure” and “failed to prevent and resolve financial risks, violating the party’s organisational line”, the watchdog said.

His arrest comes as China’s financial sector is increasingly in the crosshairs of President Xi Jinping’s vast anti-corruption campaign.

Those placed under investigation are usually convicted.

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Last month, Sun Guofeng, a former senior official at China’s central bank, was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for allegedly exchanging information for bribes totalling 21 million yuan (S$4 million).

In November, Sun Deshun, the former president of the state-owned China Citic Bank, was sentenced to life in prison for illegally receiving property valued at over US$130 million.

Also in November, the Communist Party announced that Zhang Hongli, previously the vice-chief of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) - one of China’s biggest state-owned banks - was under investigation for suspected corruption.

Li Xiaopeng, Tang’s successor as Everbright Group chairman, was arrested on charges of taking bribes in October. AFP