Wanchang chairman dies in fall 3 days after listing

山東一上市公司董事長墜樓身亡

Zibo Wanchang Science & Technology Co. confirmed on Tuesday that its chairman Gao Qingchang fell to his death on May 23 in Zibo, Shandong Province.

Gao fell from a building and died on Monday afternoon, said people familiar with the matter. It's said that Gao was supposed to go to Qingdao, also in Shandong, to deal with matters concerning 10 million yuan in cash before the fall.

The company did not provide details about Gao's fall. It's still unclear whether Gao's death was an accident or a suicide. But Yao Haiying, deputy economics editor at Time Weekly, said Monday on his Sina microblog that Gao jumped to his death on Monday morning, citing Hu Xide, director of Zibo City's Financial Affairs Office.

Gao's company, Wanchang Science & Technology had just listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on May 20. Founded in 2000, the company manufactures and distributes agricultural chemicals and pharmaceutical intermediates. It leads the domestic market in overall production and sales of trimethyl orthofomate and triethyl orthoformate.

According to Wanchang Science & Technology's statement, its general manager Wang Mingxian will take charge of management on a temporary basis.

Shares of the company surprisingly surged by 10 percent on the news and hit the ceiling price on Monday, closing at 23.54 yuan.

The stock's rise stood in stark contrast to the market's overall slump. Chinese shares fell 2.93 percent to a 16-week low Monday as the Shanghai Composite Index slipped below 2,800 points.

萬昌科技今天發布公告證實，該公司董事長高慶昌于2011年5月23日逝世。

據知情人士透露，高慶昌是今天上午墜樓身亡的。據稱墜樓前，他本來要親赴青島處理一筆1000萬元現金事項，不料意外發生。

該公司公告內容未言及高慶昌死因。高之死是意外還是自殺仍屬未知，但時代周報經濟部副主任姚海鷹昨在其微博中稱，萬昌科技董事長高慶昌周一上午跳樓身亡，淄博金融辦胡希德主任透露。

萬昌科技全稱淄博萬昌科技股份有限公司，剛剛于5月20日登陸中小板。該公司于2000年1月18日成立，主要產品原甲酸三甲酯、原甲酸三乙酯廣泛用于農藥、醫藥的合成，其生產規模、銷售量在國內市場占有率位居第一位。

該公司公告表示，現階段董事長日常工作由董事、總經理王明賢代為主持。

但萬昌科技股票昨日逆勢漲停，每股收于23.54元，較上一交易日收盤價每股21.40元，上漲10%。

昨日，滬指重挫逾80點失守年線，跌破2800點整數關，跌幅超過3%，創下自1月17日以來最大單日跌幅。