BEIJING - THE wife of billionaire Chinese appliance retailer Wong Kwong-yu has been detained as police investigate Wong for possible financial offenses, according to news reports.

Mdm Du Juan, who resigned in December as a member of the board of directors of Wong's Gome retail chain, is under police guard in Beijing, the newspaper Shanghai Securities News and the magazine Caijing reported, citing unidentified sources.

Beijing police confirmed in a brief statement faxed to The Associated Press that Du is under investigation for possible 'economic crimes' but did not say whether she was detained and gave no other details.

Mr Wong, also known as Huang Guangyu, is under investigation on suspicion of stock manipulation and other offenses. His company, Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings, suspended him from executive duties on Dec 23. Police have confirmed Wong and other company officials are being questioned but have released no other details.

Mdm Du, 37, was returned to Beijing from an unidentified location outside the city before Christmas, Caijing said. The Shanghai Securities News said police wanted to prevent her from leaving the country.

Gome says its operations have remained stable and that it did not expect the managerial changes to affect its business. Trading in the company's shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange has been suspended since November.

Mr Wong has at times been ranked as China's richest businessman. In October, the Shanghai-based Hurun research group estimated his assets at about 43 billion yuan (S$9.27 billion). -- AP