Suntech founder can't leave China: report

Authorities have said that Shi Zhengrong — the founder of the world's former largest solar panel maker Suntech — can’t leave China after his company declared bankruptcy on Wednesday, the Shanghai Securities Journal reported on Friday.

Suntech’s chief executive officer David King must also remain in the country, the paper said.

Earlier media reports claimed that Shi was allegedly involved in several related-party transactions, adding that he used Suntech to buy materials from a polysilicon company under his name.

Last week, Suntech Power Holdings Ltd said that eight Chinese banks asked a court to declare it insolvent after the company defaulted on a $541 million bond. Suntech said it would not oppose the petition.

Suntech’s bankruptcy is the biggest collapse of a Chinese solar company after the industry was severely hit by overcapacity problems since late 2009, and also heavy anti-dumping duties imposed by the United States authorities.

Suntech had debt of about $2 billion at the end of August.

Shi earned his doctorate in electrical engineering at the University of New South Wales in Sydney in 1992. He later became an Australian citizen.