The Chinese Communist party has warned thousands of officials in the city of Hangzhou, home of leading technology companies such as Jack Ma’s Alibaba, to root out any “conflicts of interest” they or their family members may have with local businesses.
The statement was posted online by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party’s corruption watchdog, on Monday, two days after the city’s top party official was detained for “serious violations of discipline” — a phrase that is commonly used by Chinese authorities as a euphemism for corruption.
The CCDI did not link the detention of Zhou Jiangyong to any specific company or entrepreneur. But the notice was issued amid a fierce crackdown on the tech sector, with Beijing unveiling a range of measures to curb the power of some of the country’s biggest companies.