An executive at Tencent Holdings Ltd. , China’s most valuable publicly listed company, has been held by Chinese authorities, part of a probe into a high-profile corruption case involving one of the country’s former top law-enforcement officials, people familiar with the matter said.
Zhang Feng has been under investigation by China’s anti-graft inspector since early last year for alleged unauthorized sharing of personal data collected by Tencent’s social-media app WeChat , the people said. They said Mr. Zhang was suspected of turning over WeChat data to former Vice Public Security Minister Sun Lijun, who is being investigating by Beijing for undisclosed violations of Communist Party rules.
Investigators are looking at what type of data Mr. Zhang allegedly might have shared with Mr. Sun and what Mr. Sun might have done with it, the people said.
Mr. Zhang was referred to as a Tencent vice president in a statement released by the municipal government of Zhangjiakou, a city near Beijing, in which he was described as having met the city’s mayor in October 2018.
Tencent said that Mr. Zhang has never held a senior executive position in the company or a managerial post.
