The Wall Street Journal reported on Feb. 16 that Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has admonished top Communist Party officials for their corruption: “You people will either die at the drinking table or in bed. Pictured is Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China.
The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday (Feb. 16) published a lengthy article revealing the princeling interests behind Alibaba, and quoted Xi Jinping’s internal remarks rebuking senior Communist Party officials: “You people will either die at the drinking table or in bed.
When Communist Party leader Xi Jinping ordered the cancellation of the initial public offering of Alibaba Group’s financial product Ant Financial Services in late 2020, his motives seemed clear: He feared Ant Financial Services would add risk to the financial system and was angry at criticism from its founder Jack Ma, the report said.
Two weeks before AntFin was called off, Ma publicly criticized financial regulators for caring only about minimizing risk and accused China’s banks of acting like “pawnshops” and lending only to those who could provide collateral. Subsequently, Chinese Communist authorities announced an anti-monopoly investigation into Alibaba.
Another key reason Xi called off the Anthem IPO, according to more than a dozen Chinese Communist Party officials and government advisers quoted by China Daily on Tuesday, is that “the Chinese [Communist Party] government is increasingly uncomfortable with Anthem’s complex ownership structure, and [the real holders of Anthem] will benefit most from the world’s largest initial public offering (IPO). “
A previously undisclosed central government investigation weeks before Anthem’s planned IPO found that Anthem’s IPO prospectus obscured the complexity of the company’s ownership, according to officials and government advisers with knowledge of the matter.
“Underneath the layers of opaque investment ties behind the company’s equity is a tightly connected coterie of Chinese [Communist Party] power players with ties to a number of political families that pose a potential challenge to President Xi and his inner circle,” The newspaper wrote.
Since taking power in 2012, Xi has been cracking down on corruption, real estate speculation and other high-risk financial activities, the newspaper said. And his anti-corruption campaign is targeting both actual corruption and strengthening his personal grip on power. Anthem’s IPO plans are exactly the kind of get-rich-quick and wealth accumulation that Xi has long opposed.
As Communist Party regulators delve into the details of the prospectus, some of Ant Financial’s investors and the way its shareholding is structured have raised alarm bells with Xi, people familiar with the investigation told China Daily.
One of the moneymakers behind Ant Financial is Boyu Capital, a private equity firm founded by Jiang Zhicheng, the grandson of former Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin.
According to public business records, Boyu first set up a subsidiary in Shanghai and invested in a Shanghai-based investment firm. This investment firm then invested in a private equity firm called Beijing Jingtou Investment Center, which in turn bought shares in Ant Financial through Jingtou.
The report said, “Many of Jiang’s associates have been removed in Xi’s anti-corruption campaign, and Jiang has remained as a force behind the scenes.”
Another stakeholder, also closely linked to Jiang’s Family, is part of the “Shanghai gang” and is held by Beijing Zhaodu Investment Group, controlled by Li Botan, the son-in-law of former Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee member Jia Qinglin.
Li is best known for helping to establish the Maotai Club in 2009, a private club near Beijing’s Forbidden City that has become a gathering place for Communist Party princes and aristocrats in recent years.
Since coming to power in late 2012, Xi has pointed to corruption within the party and stories of lavish parties and harems of mistresses among top party members that have outraged ordinary Chinese. Events like the Maotai Club are seen by Xi as harmful.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Xi said at an internal meeting with senior Communist Party officials early in his tenure, “You people, you will either die at the drinking table or in bed.”
Recent Comments