The chairman of Beijing Yanjing Beer, one of China's major brewers, has been detained for 'duty-related violation', according to the company's announcement on Thursday.

According to the company's Shenzhen stock exchange filing late Thursday, Zhao Xiaodong, chairman and president of Beijing Yanjing Beer, is related to suspicion of violating the law in connection with his duties, with the nature of the violations and timing of his detention undisclosed.

The announcement also said related arrangements have already been made, including that the work of the company will be temporarily presided over by vice-chairman Xie Guangjun, and the company's operation has not been affected by the accident.

Public information showed that Zhao, the 48-year-old head started working at Beijing Yanjing Beer in 1998 and assumed the post of chairman in 2017.

The stock slumped as much as 5 percent to 8.01 yuan ($1.20) this morning and closed at 8.26 yuan in Shenzhen.

The Beijing-headquartered brewer was founded in 1980.

In the first half of 2020, Beijing Yanjing Beer's revenue fell 13.88 percent year on year at 5.565 billion yuan. And the gross profit margin of its beer business, the major business that accounts for around 93 percent of the total revenue, decreased to 41.77 percent.

During the same period, another two major Chinese brewers, China Resources Beer and Tsingtao Brewery achieved the revenue of about 17.4 and around 15.7 billion yuan, respectively.

According to data from the China Alcoholic Drinks Association, the sales revenue of China's beer industry in the first half of this year reached over 75 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 8.95 percent.