BEIJING (REUTERS) - China's police have arrested the former general manager of CITIC Securities and several other executives from the brokerage, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday (April 29), citing the police department of Qingdao city, in eastern Shandong province.

Cheng Boming, who used to head China's largest securities firm, was suspected of being involved in criminal activity, Xinhua reported, without further elaboration.

The company had previously said Cheng and other executives were being investigated for possible insider trading and information leakage in September 2015.

A spokesman for CITIC Securities declined to comment on the arrests when contacted by Reuters.

Qingdao police also detained Xu Xiang, general manger of Shanghai based Zexi Investment for suspected insider trading, said Xinhua.