Property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang slams CCTV as 'the dumbest pig on earth'
Ren published his blunt analogy after CCTV accused China Vanke of owing more than 4.4 billion yuan in tax
Property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang, an influential microblogger with more than 16 million followers on his Chinese Weibo, slammed China's state broadcaster in a recent post as "the dumbest pig on earth".
Ren published his blunt analogy after CCTV, in a programme aired last week, accused China Vanke, the country's largest homebuilder by sales, of owing more than 4.4 billion yuan in unpaid land appreciation tax (LAT) as of 2012. LAT is a levy that was introduced in 1994 by the government on profits realised from the transfer of property.
Ren, chairman of Beijing-based Hua Yuan Real Estate Group, said he had found the report a far cry from the true picture.
"I couldn't tell from CCTV's report whether Vanke indeed owed taxes, since CCTV didn't produce any evidence that those new developments failed to pay," he wrote on Weibo, "Why didn't CCTV interview any accountants? Why didn't they talk to the Securities Regulatory Commission?"
"You can't find a pig dumber than CCTV on the whole earth," a furious Ren added.
