NetEase, one of China鈥檚 main Internet operating companies, was forced to apologize to State-owned enterprise China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corporation (COFCO) yesterday for falsely claming its CEO had been removed.
The Internet operator, which owns popular 163.com, claimed on its news website that COFCO chairman Ning Gaoning had been suspended from his position and 鈥渟ent out to study鈥? a euphemism for demotion, because of his involvement in a crooked share deal.
But COFCO issued a statement refuting the content of the report, saying it was 鈥減urely fabricated and totally inconsistent with the facts.鈥?/p>
It said it had reported the allegations to security officials and also published an apology letter from NetEase.
鈥淣etEase has sent an apology letter to Mr Ning and our corporation yesterday. The website also promised to take every possible measure to eliminate negative effects caused by this report,鈥?an anonymous staff from this State-owned company told the Global Times yesterday.
The NetEase鈥檚 apology showed praise on Ning 鈥?and said reporters and staff responsible for the false report would be 鈥渟eriously dealt with.鈥?/p>
The letter said, 鈥淢r Ning is an outstanding entrepreneur and COFCO is a first-rank company in China. NetEase maintains respect for Mr Ning and COFCO. We will seriously deal with the reporter and related persons in charge. In the future, we will ensure we will be responsible and careful about our reporting.鈥?/p>
NetEase wrongly claimed Ning was suspended for his involvement in a joint purchase with Hope Investments Management Co. Ltd on July 7.
It alleged the deal brought his company 20 percent of Meng Niu Dairy Group鈥檚 stocks at an 鈥渦nreasonably low price,鈥?but did not elaborate.
Ning has been publicly denying the NetEase claims. He told respected the business publication Caijing Magazineon Wednesday that the shares and suspension report was 鈥渁bsolutely, a rumor.鈥?/p>
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know why the media would report such news but there is no doubt it is impossible to verify any of it as fact. Their report is extremely irresponsible,鈥?Ning told sina.com. cn yesterday.
Calls to NetEase鈥檚 Guangzhou headquarters went unanswered yesterday. COFCO has not said what further action it will take.
Yin Hong, professor of journalism and communication from Tsinghua University, said such false reporting by large Internet companies was rife in China because their websites do not practice news journalism.
鈥淢ost of the time, they just forward news from other websites and online rumor mills without verifying the source and confirming the information,鈥?he said.
But he also said such 鈥渞umors鈥?could be prevented if China increased its public scrutiny of State-owned companies by making more information public.
鈥淔irstly, the professionalism of journalists needs to be improved. Also, the government should increase transparency. It is very hard for journalists to get any information, especially from the government and state-owned enterprises,鈥?Yin said.
Ning earned an MBA from the University of Pittsburg. He began work at China Resources (Holdings) Co., Ltd in 1987 and became Chairman of China Resources Enterprise Co., Ltd in 1999. He has been the COFCO chairman since 2004.
By Deng Jingyin
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