An executive at Tencent Holdings Ltd., China’s most valuable listed company, has been detained by Chinese authorities as part of an investigation into a high-profile corruption case involving one of China’s top officials. , said people familiar with the matter. .
Zhang Feng has been under investigation by China’s anti-graft inspector since early last year for allegedly unauthorized sharing of personal data collected by Tencent’s WeChat social networking app, people said. They said Mr Zhang is suspected of transmitting WeChat data to former Deputy Minister of Public Security Sun Lijun, who is being investigated by Beijing for undisclosed violations of Communist Party rules.
Investigators are looking at what kind of data Mr. Zhang shared with Mr. Sun and what Mr. Sun could have done with it, people said.
Mr. Zhang was named vice president of Tencent in a statement released by the municipal government of Zhangjiakou, a city near Beijing, in which he was described as meeting with the mayor of the city in October 2018.
Tencent said that Mr. Zhang has never held a management position within the company or a management position.