Hunter Biden’s China investment firm is small fish in China’s private equity pond

Chinese-backed firm linked to former US vice-president Joe Biden’s son is a small player in China’s private equity market

Filings show the company shifted focus to yuan investments in China soon after it started because of capital account controls imposed by Beijing

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BHR (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Company has repeatedly declined to elaborate on Hunter Biden’s role at the firm. Photo: AP

Published: 2:59pm, 14 Oct 2019Updated: 7:14am, 17 Oct 2020

The Chinese private equity firm at the centre of a controversy concerning director and shareholder Hunter Biden is a small entry in China's private equity industry, focused solely on the domestic market after it was blocked from investing abroad by Beijing’s capital account controls, according to corporate filings and government registry information.

BHR (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Company has grabbed global media attention for its links with Hunter Biden, the son of former United States vice-president Joe Biden, after US President Donald Trump fired a barrage of corruption allegations at him and requested China investigate the Bidens’ financial activities in the country.

The company has repeatedly declined to elaborate on the younger Biden’s role at the firm when contacted by the South China Morning Post via phone, mail and visits to the office. But Jonathan Li Xiangsheng, the firm’s chief executive and Hunter Biden’s partner, has said the company was working on an explanation about the American’s role.

Li refused to comment on the younger Biden when reached by the Post on Monday.

A recent visit to the firm’s registered address in Beijing found a small, plainly decorated office, where a receptionist said she had never seen Hunter Biden.

Biden joined the firm “based on his interest in seeking ways to bring Chinese capital to international markets” and “it was an unpaid position”, his lawyer George Mesires said in a statement on Sunday.

“Hunter has not received any compensation for being on BHR’s board of directors. He has not received any return on his investment; there have been no distributions to BHR shareholders since Hunter obtained his equity interest,” the statement said.