Campus acts to sack professor over sex claims

THE Shanghai University of Finance and Economics said yesterday it planned to fire an associate professor over allegations of sexual assault.

The university said it had submitted the decision to the supervision department for approval and had revoked Qian Fengsheng’s professional title and his teaching qualification.

The university said it had set up an investigation team immediately following online claims of sexual assault.

On Friday, a woman, who said she was a student at the university, posted an allegation that a professor had sexually assaulted her.

Yesterday, she said on Weibo that she had reported the matter to local police.

Following the allegations, Qian is said to have resigned from the board of at least four listed companies.

China National Building Material Co Ltd said yesterday morning that its board had received a resignation letter from Qian, who had decided to quit for personal reasons. It said that as the resignation would mean the company would fail to meet the requirements for companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, it would not take effect until a new independent director was appointed.

Shanghai Tongji Science & Technology Industrial Co Ltd, which is listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange, later made a similar announcement. Besides quitting his role as an independent director, Qian also asked to resign from other positions in the company, including chairman of the audit committee, member of the remuneration and appraisal committee and member of the nomination committee.

Shanghai Tofflon Science and Technology Co Ltd and Shanghai Hanbell Precise Machinery Co Ltd, listed in Shenzhen, made similar announcements last night. Wind Data Service said Qian is also a director of Northeast Electric Development Co Ltd, listed in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and Shenhao Technology Co Ltd, a Hangzhou-based company seeking to go public. He was not immediately available for comment.