En mai 2013, Le Vent de la Chine, dans le cadre de l’étude « Xi Jinping, la nouvelle ère« , dressait le portrait d’un homme d’influence, Jiang Jiemin. Ancien patron de la CNPC et protégé de Zhou Yongkang (également mis sous enquête il y a quelques jours), il fut nommé à la tête de la SASAC en mars 2013 (State-owned Assests Supervision & Administration Commission) même si, à l’époque, Jiang faisait déjà l’objet de rumeurs de corruption…
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JIANG JIEMIN (蒋洁敏)
STATE-OWNED ASSETS SUPERVISION & ADMINISTRATION COMMISSION CHAIRMAN
THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF THE ENERGY FACTION

Born in Shandong province in 1955, Jiang Jiemin is a key figure in China’s oil and gas industry with almost 30 years’ experience. Just months before being named to head the SASAC, he was elevated to become a full member of the 18th Central Committee.
Until March of 2013 head of the CNPC and its listed subsidiary PetroChina, Jiang has been made chairman of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC). The commission manages the ten dozen biggest state-owned enterprises, and has seen profits from these firms, many of which enjoy a monopoly, skyrocket in recent years. These consortia and the SASAC are a closed, politically connected club, arguably the most powerful economic lobby, and they select informally from among their peers those who are to run and protect their institutions, those most apt at defending their own interests parallel to those of the nation, or even of the party. They exemplify what China analyst Willy Lam calls “the rise of the energy faction in Chinese politics.”

Jiang’s move was orchestrated by the party’s powerful Central Organization Department, which controls appointments to the top 4000 nomenklatura positions, including the heads of state-owned conglomerates. His elevation was supported by patron Zhou Yongkang, a veteran of CNPC who later became public security minister. Close to Jiang Zemin, Zhou belongs to the Shanghai Faction, and retains power despite stepping down from the Politburo Standing Committee last autumn. From Jiang Jiemin’s promotion, it may be inferred that Zhou, while compromised in the unresolved Bo Xilai imbroglio, still had enough clout to nominate a protégé to head the SASAC, one of his spheres of influence.

As the head of SASAC, Jiang will face calls to reform China’s leading state-owned firms, especially the oil titans, and halt a string of ecological disasters that have emerged over the last years. Under his leadership, the CNPC was responsible for an explosion at its Dalian refinery (Liaoning) in July 2010, which led to a spill in coastal waters and killed a fire-fighter. Other accidents followed within the network of the CNPC plants, arguably the result of over-rapid expansion and failure to invest in accident prevention. Before this string of catastrophes, in an address to fellow leaders of oil companies, Jiang stated: “Environmental protection is our national policy, and is, above all, the corporate responsibility.” According to the press, Jiang Jiemin got away with a “stern warning”, and « demerit » marks” for the Dalian oil spill. Despite these minimal sanctions, and some unconfirmed rumours of corruption (March 2013), Jiang Jiemin continues to rise…