Following the Money: Inside Family Assets of Incoming Chinese President Xi Jinping
June 29th, 2012
Earlier today Bloomberg News posted a detailed look at the financials of Xi Jinping and his extended family. Xi, the man in line to be China’s next President, has publicly warned his colleagues in government against graft: “Rein in your spouses, children, relatives, friends and staff, and vow not to use power for personal gain.” Despite this warning, however, Xi’s extended family has to date accumulated over hundreds of millions of dollars, most of which are held by Xi’s sister Qi Qiaoqiao, her husband Deng Jiagui and Xi’s brother-in-law Wu Long.
The article tracks Qi’s rise to fortune, as first a daughter and “princeling” of Xi Zhongxun, a revolutionary fighter who helped Mao Zedong win control of China in 1949. Her investments increased steadily in real estate, from owning multiple properties to becoming a developer in her own right. Her fortunes correlated with the booming real estate market in China, which grew so quickly that Wen Jiabao, the current Chinese premier, at one time commented that prices were “far from a reasonable level.” Qi’s husband’s holdings were also incredibly timely, such as his investment in a rare earth company based in Shanghai. China holds a near-monopoly over the world’s rare earth production, and around the time of Deng’s investment, the government tightened controls over its production, leading to a fourfold increase in price for some rare earths.
Xi’s brother-in-law’s fortunes have been almost as good. His company New Postcom won a share to supply handsets to China Mobile, China’s biggest phone company, despite bids from far more established competitors, most notably Motorola. “People were expecting Motorola to get a big part of that device contract,” notes BDA Chairman Duncan Clark, “and then a no-name company just appeared at the top of the list.”
China blocks Bloomberg for exposing financial affairs of Xi Jinping’s family
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/29/china-bloomberg-xi-jinping
Access to Bloomberg website blocked after it reveals assets of relatives of man expected to become president
China appears to have blocked access to the Bloomberg website after it detailed the multimillion-dollar assets of relatives of the man expected to become president.
It is widely assumed that Xi Jinping will become the general secretary of the Communist party later this year and president of China next spring. The Bloomberg report said it did not trace any assets to Xi, his wife or their daughter, but that members of his extended family owned luxury properties in Hong Kong and multimillion-dollar investments in companies.
It added that there was no indication of any wrongdoing by Xi or his relatives and no sign that Xi had sought to promote the business interests of his family.