ON MONDAY AFTERNOON, CNPC, Sinopec and CNOOC, the three oil and gas industry giants, announced the names of their new board chairpersons. The CNPC and Sinopec chiefs have retired, while CNOOC chairman Wang Yilin will now take over the reins of CNPC. Comments:

All the three State-owned enterprises have got new chiefs from outside the company. That's because the longer an official stays in one leading position, the more possible it becomes for him or her to seek personal interests, which, in turn, breeds corruption. Some of the recently hunted "tigers" from the gas and oil industry had worked in the same leading positions for too long. Thus, selecting an official from outside to fill a vacant post will curb corruption. There is no need to worry about their professionalism because the three enterprises are in the same business.

Wang Yukai, a professor at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, May 5