The head of a major Beijing property developer has been placed under questioning, the China Business Times reported yesterday.

Liu Xiaoguang, president of Beijing Capital Group Ltd (Capital Group) and chairman of Hong Kong-listed subsidiary Beijing Capital Land Ltd, was taken away by staff from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee last Friday.

The Beijing-based newspaper said Liu, 51, is the first real estate figure questioned by the discipline watchdog following Beijing Vice-Mayor Liu Zhihua's sudden dismissal on June 11 for corruption and poor morals. The paper noted that it is not known yet whether he is linked with alleged corruption involving Liu Zhihua.

In a sign of the knock-on effect of the case, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange suspended trading in shares of Beijing Capital Land (BCL) the past two days following Liu's alleged detention.

Reorganized in December 1995 into 17 economic entities under the Beijing municipal government, the Capital Group is a large State-own company and deals with six main industries including basic municipal infrastructure construction, real estate, finance, industrial technology, commerce and trade, tourism and hotels.

Consisting of 142 enterprises including five holding companies listed on domestic and foreign stock markets, the group's total assets reached 45.2 billion yuan (US$5.57 billion ) and net assets reached 11 billion yuan (US$1.36 billion) by the end of 2004. With adequate quality land reserves in various prime districts in Beijing, the group is dubbed the "landlord of Beijing," the China Business Times said.

The Capital Group could not be reached yesterday for comment.

Although Liu Zhihua and Liu Xiaoguang are not believed to be related, the China Business Times said their portfolios showed links as the former Beijing vice-mayor was responsible for urban development while Liu Xiaoguang's firm is a property development arm of the Beijing municipal government.

However, a spokesman from the Capital Group yesterday denied that Liu Xiaoguang was arrested or detained, adding that "Liu has been assisting the investigation since June 17." He told Reuters News Agency that Liu "has not been arrested or detained, and will return to work as soon as the job is done."

(China Daily June 22, 2006)