Liu He Said to Be Xi Jinping’s Confidant
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Beijing was considering replacing its trade negotiator with the United States, with Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua replacing Liu He, the original trade representative. China’s Ministry of Commerce has since denied this, but the Financial Times has reported that Liu He’s son, Liu Tianran, has resigned as chairman of his investment firm, Tian Yi Zi Teng, as required by Chinese Communist Party regulations, but is still secretly making deals to invest in tech giants Tencent and Jingdong.
The Financial Times reported that Liu Tiandian was the chairman of the company when it was founded in Zhejiang in 2016, and that he gave up his chairmanship in April 2017, six months before Liu He was promoted to the Politburo, and then transferred his shares to a senior executive the following year. The report said this was because the Communist Party authorities prohibit children of senior officials from holding management positions in industries overseen by their parents.
The report cited sources as saying that even though he resigned as chairman and transferred his holdings, he still secretly conducted transactions for “Tian Yi Zi Teng,” including several lucrative deals involving Chinese tech giants Tencent and Jingdong, suggesting that Liu played an important role in the deals. “The company has grown rapidly over the past five years into a firm with more than 10 billion yuan in assets under management and more than 30 employees in its Beijing and Shanghai offices.
The Financial Times quoted financial industry sources as saying that the CCP’s “princelings” have been trying to keep a low profile, but have been attracted by financial market interests and have never left the financial market as required.
At present, Tencent, Jingdong and other Chinese science and technology giants are caught in the whirlpool of China’s “anti-monopoly investigation”, coupled with the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China to be held next year, the Financial Times disclosed “black materials” about Liu He’s family at this point in time, triggering the outside world’s imagination.
The outside world is pessimistic about Liu He’s political future
Liu He is said to be Xi Jinping’s confidant, the most important think tank on economic issues. In a rare move, Liu He was not accompanied by Xi Jinping during his visit to Henan Province earlier this month, and another vice premier, Hu Chunhua, stood next to him instead.
Liu He is now 69 years old and, according to the internal rules of the Communist Party, is not expected to move on to the next level, which means he has a good chance of retiring after the 20th Communist Party Congress next year.
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