Chinese brewery left with huge liabilities.

AP--The top leader in northwestern China's Xinjiang region has reportedly urged creditors and suppliers to "support" a troubled beer hops company under investigation by securities authorities.

Xinjiang Hops Co., whose chairman recently vanished leaving behind huge liabilities, said Wednesday it had been notified that the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the stock market watchdog, was probing allegations it provided "false information regarding certain major events."

Meanwhile, in an unusual intervention by a political leader, Wang Lequan, who as Communist Party secretary is the highest ranking official in Xinjiang, urged creditors and suppliers of raw materials to the company to "go all out" to support the company and safeguard its operations, the official China News Service reported.

Xinjiang Hops's troubles surfaced after the company announced two weeks ago that tycoon Aikelamu Aishayoufu had dropped out of contact, leaving more than 1 billion yuan (US$120 million) in previously unknown loan guarantees and other financial liabilities.

Such guarantees are common because banks often give borrowers lower interest rates on loans backed by listed companies. But they can be a serious liability if loans are not repaid.

Xinjiang authorities set up an "emergency leading group" and are conducting their own investigations, the China News Service report said, citing Wang's comments to a meeting of regional leaders earlier this week.

The high level of attention reflects the importance of Xinjiang Hops, a Shanghai-listed company engaged in hops and barley trading, brewery, beverage and real estate businesses, to the regional economy.

It could also signal a political fallout from Aishayoufu's disappearance.

Wang Lequan and Ismail Tiliwaldi, chairman of the autonomous region, "expressed their indignation over Aikelamu (Aishayoufu)'s leaving his post without authorization when his company ran into problems."

It accused Aishayoufu of causing huge losses to Xinjiang Hops and of harming shareholders. "This is totally irresponsible behavior, as well as a detestable act that severely goes against professional morals," the report cited the officials as saying.

Aishayoufu, a former local official for the central People's Bank of China, made his fortune in the real estate business and later bought a controlling stake in Xinjiang Hops, then a state-run company.

The 45-year-old tycoon is one of the wealthiest among China's Muslim Uighur minority, who live mainly in the northwest--a region that has long chafed under Chinese rule.

Since the tycoon's disappearance, authorities in Xinjiang have frozen millions of dollars of assets owned by Aishayoufu and the company.