BEIJING (Reuters) - Sinopec (SS:600028) president Wang Yupu has been appointed the Communist party chief of China's work safety administration, the state body said in a statement late on Tuesday, effectively heading up the safety watchdog.
The 61-year old oil industry veteran will lead the body as it battles to restore its image after a rash of safety accidents and the removal of two former heads within a year.
In July, the head of the work safety Yang Huanning was removed for serious "discipline" problems. His predecessor Yang Dongliang, was jailed for 15 years for graft in February, following a deadly blast in Tianjian.
Wang spent more than 27 years with Sinopec. He was the head of Sinopec's Daqing oilfield before his promotion to the president in 2015.
China's government has pledged to improve the country's relatively lax safety standards after mishaps from factory fires to mine cave-ins have increased public concerns.