Song Lin (China Resources Group)

Song Lin (born February 3, 1963), is a native of Qushui Village, Rushan, Shandong Province (now part of Weihai City), born in Jinan, Shandong. He was formerly a member of the Chinese Communist Party, a senior executive in central state-owned enterprises stationed in Hong Kong, entrepreneur, and member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He served as the former President of the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association, and held positions such as Chairman of China Resources Group, China Resources Trust, and Hanwei Capital. The Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association holds 16 votes in the Chief Executive Election Committee in Hong Kong. On April 17, 2014, he was investigated for serious disciplinary and legal violations, and was expelled from the Party on September 11, 2015. On June 1, 2017, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. On May 18, 2018, he was removed from the position of Justice of the Peace.

Biography

Song Lin was born in 1963 in Jinan. At the time, his parents were teaching at Shandong Normal University. In 1970, Song Lin was sent back to Qushui village to attend school. In university, he obtained a bachelor's degree in Engineering Mechanics from Tongji University.

Song joined several management departments of subsidiaries under China Resources Group in 1985. He held positions such as manager, senior manager, assistant general manager, deputy general manager, director, and general manager of the Corporate Development Department, including in subsidiaries such as China Resources Enterprises Limited, Vanke, China Resources Microelectronics (later privatized), China Resources Petrochemical (closed and sold to Sinopec), China Resources Liquefied Gas (predecessor of China Resources Gas), and China Resources Power Holdings. He also served as an independent non-executive director for Bank of East Asia (China) and Geely Automobile.

In 2002, during the acquisition of Wanjia Department Store (now merged into China Resources Vanguard), he was appointed as chairman of the board.

In 2004, Song Lin was promoted to general manager of China Resources Group; in 2008, he was promoted to chairman. In the 2012 “50 Most Influential Business Leaders in China” list by *Fortune* magazine, he ranked 20th.

Fall from power

On July 17, 2013 and April 15, 2014, Xinhua News Agency’s *Economic Information Daily* chief reporter Wang Wenzhi reported Song Lin twice to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), accusing him of misconduct during the acquisition of Shanxi Jinye assets, which led to major state asset losses, and alleged he kept mistresses and was involved in corruption. Song denied these accusations, claiming the reports were fabricated and defamatory.

On April 17, 2014, the CCDI announced that Song Lin was under investigation for serious disciplinary violations. On April 19, he was dismissed from his post. After his dismissal, Chairman of China Merchants Group Fu Yuning succeeded him at China Resources Group.

Following the exposure of Song Lin's case, the faction led by Zeng Qinghong suffered significant damage. Additionally, stocks of China Resources-related enterprises plummeted. It was rumored that the case involved He Guoqiang’s family and his eldest son, He Jintao.

Some media predicted the Song Lin case was listed as the third major corruption case after Zhou Yongkang. Hong Kong’s *Apple Daily* reported his extravagant lifestyle—hosting banquets for political and business elites in China Resources’ banquet hall in Wan Chai, serving rare abalone, Humphead wrasse, and soups with cordyceps, along with French Burgundy wine costing HKD 80,000–120,000 per bottle, with estimated costs of at least HKD 600,000 per meal.

On May 20, 2014, the 15th chairman meeting of the 12th CPPCC announced that Song Lin would no longer serve as a member of the CPPCC National Committee. On September 11, 2015, the CCDI announced his expulsion from the Party.

On February 27, 2017, the Guangzhou Intermediate Court opened the trial for Song Lin’s bribery and corruption case. He was found to have embezzled and accepted over 33 million RMB. On June 1, the court sentenced him to 14 years in prison and fined him 4 million RMB. Embezzled assets were returned to China Resources Group; bribes were confiscated and turned over to the state treasury.

Aftermath

After Song Lin's arrest, multiple executives from China Resources were investigated: former audit director Huang Daoguo, former synergy office director Zhang Chun, former vice chairman Wang Shuaiding (later vice chairman and GM of China Travel Service), China Resources Financial CEO Wu Ding, China Resources Land vice chairman Wang Hongkun, and China Resources Power president Wang Yujun.

Family

• Song Lin’s grandfather was a long-term laborer under a landlord before the revolution, actively participated in the land reform movement, and later served as a village cadre. He had four sons, two of whom died young. The surviving two were Song Jiqing (college-educated) and Song Jibin (who preferred farming and supported his brothers' education), and Song Jibo (high school education).
• His father Song Jiqing was born in 1929. At age 14, he joined the revolution and led a children’s group. At 17, he married a woman four years his senior from the same village, as arranged by his parents. At 18, he joined the army and fought in the Chinese Civil War. After the war, he studied in middle school in Muping, Yantai, divorced his first wife under the influence of new ideas, and later married Lin (Song’s mother), his student. He later taught in Jinan and died in 2002.

Song Lin is married. His wife and child live in the United States, and they have long been separated. His last visit to his hometown was before Qingming Festival in 2013, to pay respects to his late father. Despite some media claims of a strong family background, villagers insist the Song family were ordinary people with no notable connections.

Other Positions and Titles

• 2013: Member of Economic Development Commission
• 2013: Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the ICAC's Ethics Development Centre (Hong Kong)

External links

• Song Lin: “Without China Resources, There Would Be No Me” — JRJ