The general manager of Sinosteel Corp, China’s largest iron ore trading firm, has been fired after state auditors found financial irregularities, the South China Morning Post reported. The reasons for Huang Tianwen’s dismissal are unclear, though the group has said it needs to learn from international business practices and improve its corporate governance. Jia Baojun, former president of Sinosteel unit Sinosteel Co, has been appointed to replace Huang. The National Audit Office criticized Sinosteel in an audit report last year for widespread financial irregularities, including a payment of nearly US$50 million to contractors without legal documentation. Huang, 56, took the top job at Sinosteel in December 2003. The case underscores the problems that state-owned enterprises face, as they are pushed into competing in the marketplace without a proper system of checks and balances.