China Sinolink says operations normal after death

SHANGHAI, May 5 (Reuters) - China's Sinolink Securities (600109.SS) said on Monday it was operating normally after the sudden death of Wei Dong, founder and chairman of the company's parent group.

"Our company's operations and management are completely normal," the medium-sized brokerage said in a brief statement. It gave no explanation of Wei's death other than to describe it as "accidental".

Last week, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters that Wei had committed suicide. Caijing magazine, a leading financial publication, reported on its Web site that Wei had committed suicide and had been under investigation by government authorities. It did not specify the reason for the investigation.

The Yongjin group founded by Wei controls Sinolink and Jiuzhitang Co (000989.SZ), a pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Shares in both companies were suspended from trading on Wednesday, just before a long public holiday, and will remain suspended on Monday.

Born in 1967, Wei founded Shanghai-based Yongjin in 1995 and expanded into brokerage, trust and investment, asset management and financial consulting, according to the group's Web site.

Yongjin has bought major stakes in companies including Zhuzhou Qianjin Pharmaceutical Co (600479.SS), Qingdao Mesnac Co (002073.SZ) and Hong Kong-listed Beijing Media Corp (1000.HK). (Reporting by Andrew Torchia and Samuel Shen; editing by Ken Wills)