He Songqing:A Ningbo company’s boss committed suicide

On May 4, 61-year-old He Songqing, Party chief and board chairman of Ningbo Development & Investment Group Co., Ltd (NDIG) fell from the 20th floor of his company’s headquarter building and died.

NDIG is a state-owned company founded by the Ningbo government. The company focuses on financing, investment and assets management. With the capital amounting to billions of yuan, the company owns several listed companies. Therefore, He Qingsong’s death shocked the whole city.

People close to He Qingsong said that he is a low-profile and easy-going man. Many of his friends didn’t believe his death. It is said that his “suicide” is related with the investigation conducted by the discipline department into a large project NDIG invested in – the Ningbo Culture Square.

In July 2008, the construction of Ningbo Culture Square, whose total investment reached 2.25 billion yuan (USD 329.6 million), was officially started. This was one of the major projects of the Ningbo government. Therefore the government attached great importance to the project. However, during the construction progress, a project manager was found to be involved in illegal dealings and was arrested. Then reports said that He Songqing was also related with the case.

He Songqing was born in Ningbo. After his army life in Heilongjiang, he returned to his hometown and worked for the government. In 1997, when NDIG was founded, he was appointed the head of the company.