https://www.scmp.com/rss/323973/feed The latest news on Xiao Jianhua, Chinese-Canadian businessman and billionaire, including business news and updates. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com A court in China has sentenced Xiao Jianhua, the founder of Tomorrow Group, to 13 years in prison, and slapped a fine of 55 billion yuan (US$8.1 billion) on the conglomerate, bookending the dramatic break-up of China’s largest privately owned financial empire after a five-year investigation. The Canadian-Chinese tycoon – who disappeared from a luxury hotel in Hong Kong in 2017 – was found guilty of illegally collecting public deposits, using entrusted assets in breach of trust, illegally using... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3189498/tomorrow-groups-xiao-jianhua-sentenced-13-years-prison?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3189498/tomorrow-groups-xiao-jianhua-sentenced-13-years-prison?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Aug 2022 08:52:49 +0000 Canadian diplomats have been denied access to the trial of dual citizen Xiao Jianhua, according to Ottawa’s embassy in Beijing. “Canada made several requests to attend the trial proceedings. Our attendance was denied by Chinese authorities,” the embassy said in a short statement. The 50-year-old Chinese-Canadian tycoon’s trial is understood to have opened in Shanghai on Monday, five years after his disappearance from Hong Kong’s luxury Four Seasons hotel. The charges against Xiao – who once... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3184130/canada-diplomats-denied-access-tycoon-xiao-jianhuas-china-trial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3184130/canada-diplomats-denied-access-tycoon-xiao-jianhuas-china-trial?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Jul 2022 03:27:39 +0000 A Canadian-Chinese tycoon who disappeared from a luxury hotel in Hong Kong in suspicious circumstances in 2017 was expected to stand trial in mainland China on Monday, according to the Canadian embassy in Beijing. “Global Affairs Canada is aware that a trial in the case of Canadian citizen, Mr Xiao Jianhua, will take place on July 4, 2022,” the embassy said on Monday. “Canadian consular officials are monitoring this case closely, providing consular services to his family and continue to press... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3184085/chinese-canadian-tycoon-xiao-jianhua-who-disappeared-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3184085/chinese-canadian-tycoon-xiao-jianhua-who-disappeared-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Jul 2022 11:19:41 +0000 An ongoing cash crisis in China’s central Henan province highlights the difficulties facing the nation’s regulators in their effort to clean up the country’s weak small rural lenders amid growing economic pressure and a poor outlook for the small-bank sector. Since mid-April, thousands of depositors have been left in the dark as to the whereabouts of their savings at four rural banks in Henan. Local media cited the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) last month as saying a... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3181758/chinas-bank-runs-highlight-abuse-among-small-bank?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3181758/chinas-bank-runs-highlight-abuse-among-small-bank?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jun 2022 10:00:19 +0000 Baoshang Bank, the centrepiece of Chinese oligarch Xiao Jianhua’s Tomorrow Group, will be forced into bankruptcy as regulators step up the pace of cleaning up a sprawling financial empire with 3 trillion yuan (US$431 billion) in financial assets, according to the People’s Bank of China. For more than a decade until last year, Baoshang Bank in the largest population centre of northern China’s Inner Mongolia region was the financial war chest for Xiao’s Tomorrow Group. Through its 89 per cent... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3096443/chinas-central-bank-declares-baoshang-bank-bankrupt-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3096443/chinas-central-bank-declares-baoshang-bank-bankrupt-it?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Aug 2020 07:00:26 +0000 Baoshang Bank, a key part of troubled magnate Xiao Jianhua’s business empire, collapsed, as big shareholder Tomorrow Group failed to repay billions of yuan in loans that were obtained through flawed corporate governance and mismanagement. The group illegally borrowed 156 billion yuan (US$22.3 billion) from Baoshang Bank, which was taken over by the government last year, in the form of 347 loans through 209 shell companies from 2005 to 2019 and these subsequently became delinquent, Zhou Xuedong,... https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3095880/xiao-jianhuas-tomorrow-group-duped-baoshang-bank-us22-billion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3095880/xiao-jianhuas-tomorrow-group-duped-baoshang-bank-us22-billion?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Aug 2020 02:30:05 +0000 Tomorrow Group, the sprawling conglomerate with businesses from financial services to real estate in the middle of one of China’s biggest corporate break-ups, appears to be hitting back at a government move to seize its subsidiaries. In a four-point, unsigned statement released via Tomorrow Group’s WeChat account on Saturday, the conglomerate founded by the Chinese oligarch Xiao Jianhua pointed to several procedural questions that implied that financial regulators were so set on taking over the... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3093764/statement-purportedly-chinese-oligarchs-tomorrow-group-hits-back?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3093764/statement-purportedly-chinese-oligarchs-tomorrow-group-hits-back?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Jul 2020 10:05:53 +0000 China’s financial regulators seized control of several insurers, trust firms and stock brokers linked to one of the country’s most powerful oligarchs, in a devastating blow against corporate malfeasance and freewheeling capitalism while the stock market is in the midst of a runaway rally. Huaxia Life Insurance, Tian’an Property Insurance, Tian’an Life, Yi’an Property Insurance, New Times Trust and New China Trust were placed under state ward to “protect the rights of policy holders, customers... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3093663/chinas-regulator-seizes-control-six-insurers-trust-firms-mass?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3093663/chinas-regulator-seizes-control-six-insurers-trust-firms-mass?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jul 2020 09:45:39 +0000 Ping An Insurance (Group), China’s biggest insurer by value, is in talks to buy Huaxia Life Insurance from missing Chinese financier Xiao Jianhua, according to several sources familiar with the matter. Talks between the two parties had gone on in fits and starts for several months since last year, stalling over the asking price of Huaxia, which claims to have 500 billion yuan (US$71 billion) in assets, with half a million employees in 24 nationwide branches, according to the sources. The talks... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3023297/huaxia-life-talks-sale-ping-chinese-regulators-pick-apart?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3023297/huaxia-life-talks-sale-ping-chinese-regulators-pick-apart?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Aug 2019 07:22:05 +0000 China’s numerous small banks are still struggling to raise the finances needed to be able to offer more loans to aid the slowing economy nearly three months after the country’s first bank failure in more than 20 years. After the government takeover of Baoshang Bank at the end of May, larger banks and investors remain cautious about providing financing to smaller institutions, fearful that their balances sheets hide large numbers of bad loans amid a continued government clampdown on risky... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3022948/chinas-small-banks-still-struggling-obtain-funds-lend-three?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3022948/chinas-small-banks-still-struggling-obtain-funds-lend-three?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Aug 2019 11:15:08 +0000 China’s sovereign wealth fund has taken over HengFeng Bank, a troubled lender linked to fugitive financier Xiao Jianhua, in the third case in as many months of the state exerting its grip over wayward financial institutions. Central Huijin Investment, a subsidiary of the China Investment Corporation that acts as the Chinese government’s shareholder in the country’s four biggest banks, has emerged as a strategic investor in HengFeng, according to a brief report overnight by Shanghai Securities... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3022056/unit-chinas-sovereign-wealth-fund-takes-over-xiao-jianhua?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3022056/unit-chinas-sovereign-wealth-fund-takes-over-xiao-jianhua?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Aug 2019 16:34:42 +0000 China’s plan to split up the business empire controlled by billionaire Xiao Jianhua appears to have gathered pace, with a former Tomorrow Group board secretary set free in June without trial after being under investigation for the last three years, three separate sources told the South China Morning Post. Wen Yingjie, a top aide to Chinese tycoon Xiao, was released after charges of embezzlement were dropped, according to the three sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity because of the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3017735/ex-tomorrow-group-aide-released-china-speeds-downsizing-xiao?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3017735/ex-tomorrow-group-aide-released-china-speeds-downsizing-xiao?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Jul 2019 21:00:06 +0000 Ever since the historic protests broke out in Hong Kong this month, senior politicians in Taipei have felt a touch of schadenfreude. With Taiwan’s presidential election cycle heating up, the Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, who is seeking re-election, and potential opposition candidate Terry Gou, one of the island’s richest men, have both pointed to Hong Kong’s mass protests as proof that Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula has failed in the city. This sentiment has been echoed across... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3015492/hong-kongs-extradition-protests-one-country-two-systems-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3015492/hong-kongs-extradition-protests-one-country-two-systems-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Jun 2019 01:30:05 +0000 China’s central bank said the government takeover of Baoshang Bank Co. was an isolated case, while revealing the seizure was triggered by misappropriation of funds by its largest shareholder. The People’s Bank of China said on Sunday that it does not have plans to take over other institutions and that it’s confident in maintaining financial stability in markets, according to a statement released on its website. Tomorrow Group, an investment conglomerate led by financier Xiao Jianhua, holds about... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/money-wealth/article/3012806/baoshang-bank-takeover-connected-misappropriation-funds-was?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/money-wealth/article/3012806/baoshang-bank-takeover-connected-misappropriation-funds-was?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Jun 2019 16:27:51 +0000 The Chinese authorities on Friday took over Baoshang Bank, a private bank based in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, citing its “severe credit risks.” It was the first government takeover of a bank in China since 1998, and it highlights the credit risks hidden in China’s smaller banks. “The move shows that the problem with Baoshang is so serious that it could not be solved by the local authorities,” said Sun Wujun, a finance professor at Nanjing University. “Baoshang is just one case that... https://www.scmp.com/business/chinas-regulators-put-city-level-banks-and-rural-lenders-notice-after-first-state-takeover-private/article/3012153?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/chinas-regulators-put-city-level-banks-and-rural-lenders-notice-after-first-state-takeover-private/article/3012153?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 May 2019 10:25:17 +0000 China’s city banks and rural co-operatives, with the worst credit quality among Chinese lenders, are on notice after last week’s state takeover of Baoshang Bank, as regulators step up their scrutiny to ring-fence the financial system from errant lending and runaway wheeling and dealing. Friday’s takeover of Baoshang by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the China Banking and Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), where its management will be run by the regulators for a year while financial operations... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3011921/chinas-regulators-put-city-level-banks-and-rural-lenders?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3011921/chinas-regulators-put-city-level-banks-and-rural-lenders?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 May 2019 11:00:09 +0000 China’s central bank and banking regulator have taken over control of a commercial lender linked to disgraced financier Xiao Jianhua, as the authorities take a step forward in breaking up his sprawling business empire. The management of Baoshang Bank, based in Inner Mongolia’s Baotou city, was taken over by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) with immediate effect for a year to contain its credit risk, according to a Friday... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3011743/chinas-bank-regulators-take-over-baoshang-bank-moving-step?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3011743/chinas-bank-regulators-take-over-baoshang-bank-moving-step?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 May 2019 13:15:12 +0000 Xiao Jianhua, the Chinese billionaire who vanished from a luxury Hong Kong hotel over the 2017 Lunar New Year break, is about to face trial in Shanghai charged with stock price manipulation and bribery. A pre-trial meeting – similar to a preliminary hearing – was held earlier this month, a step that signals the end is near for one of the most dramatic and complicated cases in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on the country’s wayward tycoons. A source said there might be additional rounds... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2165416/chinese-tycoon-xiao-jianhua-could-face-trial-soon-stock?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2165416/chinese-tycoon-xiao-jianhua-could-face-trial-soon-stock?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Sep 2018 23:00:15 +0000 The trial of Xiao Jianhua, the Chinese billionaire who vanished from a luxury Hong Kong hotel over the Lunar New Year break in 2017, won’t take place in China until the second half of this year as his former flagship company struggles to dispose of assets, two sources told the South China Morning Post. Xiao had been expected to face court by the end of next month because the investigation had been completed and the case handed to prosecutors. But one source familiar with the case said Tomorrow... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2148154/disappearing-chinese-billionaire-xiao-jianhua-awaits-day-court?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2148154/disappearing-chinese-billionaire-xiao-jianhua-awaits-day-court?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 May 2018 23:00:30 +0000 The European Union has voiced concerns over the “gradual erosion” of Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy as it questioned the implementation of the “one country, two systems” policy in its latest report on the city. In response, the Hong Kong government said that the city had been exercising a high degree of autonomy since its “return to the motherland” from British rule. It reiterated calls for foreign institutions not to interfere in its internal affairs after a US report released on Saturday... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2143202/eu-concerned-over-gradual-erosion-hong-kongs-autonomy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2143202/eu-concerned-over-gradual-erosion-hong-kongs-autonomy?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Apr 2018 03:04:32 +0000 Foreign governments should stay out of Hong Kong’s internal affairs the city’s government has warned, after a US report raised concerns mainland Chinese authorities had encroached on the city’s autonomy. The report on human rights practices, released by the United States Department of State on Saturday, said the most significant issues concerning Hong Kong were “a chilling effect on political protest and the exercise of free speech” caused by government actions and “central People’s Republic of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2142740/stay-out-hong-kongs-business-government-warns-after-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2142740/stay-out-hong-kongs-business-government-warns-after-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Apr 2018 06:45:15 +0000 A plan by Chinese authorities to split up the business empire controlled by mysterious billionaire Xiao Jianhua has run into difficulties after the group and potential buyers disagreed on the prices of key assets, according to public corporate filings and sources who are close to those deals. Beijing has ordered Xiao to divest about 150 billion yuan (US$23.9 billion) worth of assets in 2018 to repay bank loans, the South China Morning Post reported last month.  Xiao had already divested about... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2142139/why-beijings-plan-break-mysterious-tycoons-business-empire-hit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2142139/why-beijings-plan-break-mysterious-tycoons-business-empire-hit?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Apr 2018 23:00:30 +0000 The business empire controlled by Chinese tycoon Xiao Jianhua will divest itself of 150 billion yuan (US$23.7 billion) worth of assets this year to repay bank loans, after offloading investments of about 100 billion yuan since he returned to the mainland from Hong Kong in mysterious circumstances early last year, a well-informed source told the South China Morning Post. Tomorrow Holdings, Xiao’s primary corporate vehicle, and a vast network of affiliated ventures were divesting assets under... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2136378/chinas-battle-plan-against-tycoons-prompts-xiao-jianhua-firm-sell?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2136378/chinas-battle-plan-against-tycoons-prompts-xiao-jianhua-firm-sell?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Mar 2018 13:30:15 +0000 Yang Jing, secretary general of China’s cabinet, has been sacked partly because of links to troubled businessman Xiao Jianhua, sources told the South China Morning Post. Yang, who also holds the title of state councillor and is a top assistant to Premier Li Keqiang, has been removed from his administrative posts, which decide his perks, and demoted from deputy state to ministerial level, Xinhua reported on Saturday. The unusual announcement was made just ahead of a key government reshuffle next... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2134592/top-chinese-cabinet-official-yang-jings-sacking-linked?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2134592/top-chinese-cabinet-official-yang-jings-sacking-linked?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Feb 2018 15:45:00 +0000 Shares in Hengtou Securities soared by almost three quarters of their value in Hong Kong trading on Wednesday, before paring gains to 29 per cent at close, after the brokerage firm said its shareholders have agreed to sell a 30 per cent stake to Citic Guoan. The 9 billion yuan (HK$10.8 billion) price tag for the stake represents a premium of more than 400 per cent to the share price. Hengtou Securities opened higher on Wednesday morning and quickly jumped to HK$4.8, up 71 per cent from the... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2126640/hengtou-securities-leaps-record-71pc-hong-kong-after-citic-guoan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2126640/hengtou-securities-leaps-record-71pc-hong-kong-after-citic-guoan?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Jan 2018 06:00:30 +0000 A 25 per cent stake in Huaxia Life Insurance, a company indirectly controlled by missing Chinese financier Xiao Jianhua, has been sold, the first such sale in the tycoon’s sprawling financial empire since he disappeared 10 months ago. Zhongtian Financial Group, a property developer controlled by billionaire Luo Yuping and based in the southern province of Guizhou, agreed to pay 31 billion yuan (US$4.67 billion) for the stake, it said in a statement to the stock exchange late on Monday. The... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2120769/financier-xiao-jianhua-sells-huaxia-unit-stake-his-first?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2120769/financier-xiao-jianhua-sells-huaxia-unit-stake-his-first?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Nov 2017 23:30:15 +0000 Our pan-democrats need to become a great deal more selective about the issues where they confront the government, or they are going to slip into political irrelevance. Take this latest brouhaha about the ­co-location arrangements for immigration and customs at the Hong Kong terminus of the national high-speed rail network, in West Kowloon. The pan-democrats are pledging to fight the idea tooth and nail on the grounds that it is a breach of the Basic Law, and will open the door to mainland... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2104488/hong-kongs-pan-democrats-are-wrong-track-express-rail-border?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2104488/hong-kongs-pan-democrats-are-wrong-track-express-rail-border?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Jul 2017 03:32:30 +0000 Xiao Jianhua, the financier who was plucked from his Hong Kong hideout and has been in the custody of Chinese authorities since late January, was an investor in magnate Wang Jianlin’s privatisation of Dalian Wanda Commercial Property, according to two bankers with knowledge of the deal. Xiao’s investment, made through intermediaries and unknown to Wanda’s executives last year, underscores the intricate web of influence woven by the man who’s known as the financier to China’s elites. Key stocks... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2104530/chinas-missing-financier-placed-bet-wandas-privatisation-will-he?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2104530/chinas-missing-financier-placed-bet-wandas-privatisation-will-he?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Jul 2017 11:00:45 +0000 A Hong Kong police request for authorities from across the border to check whether billionaire Xiao Jianhua was taken by mainland law enforcement agents from a luxury hotel in the city remains unanswered since his mysterious disappearance five months ago. Government sources said they believed Xiao was escorted back across the border by mainland law enforcement agents, but admitted there was nothing Hong Kong police could do if mainland authorities did not answer them. While Xiao was believed to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2098886/five-months-hong-kong-police-still-lack-answers-china-about?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2098886/five-months-hong-kong-police-still-lack-answers-china-about?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0000 A storm is brewing in China’s financial industry as President Xi Jinping seeks to stem collusion among senior regulators, ruling elite family members and private tycoons ahead of a key Communist Party meeting later this year. Alarmed by a stock market rout in 2015, Xi is loudly beating the anti-graft drum in the financial world, where shady money-for-power deals have been rampant. Xi is also alert to financial risks that have the potential to roil markets, hurt growth and ­endanger state... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2088995/first-guns-then-knives-now-xi-goes-after-money-bags-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2088995/first-guns-then-knives-now-xi-goes-after-money-bags-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Apr 2017 15:30:15 +0000 The collapse of a highly leveraged, 3 billion yuan (US$436 million) takeover bid for a Shanghai-listed animation company this month shone a spotlight on a shadowy corner of China’s stock market that is worrying the authorities in Beijing. The bidding vehicle, Longwei Culture and Media, was set up in Tibet in November by wealthy actress Zhao Wei and her husband Huang Youlong with registered capital of just 2 million yuan. A month later, it offered 3.06 billion yuan for a controlling, 29 per cent... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2074366/why-beijing-declaring-war-stock-market-crocodiles-now?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2074366/why-beijing-declaring-war-stock-market-crocodiles-now?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Feb 2017 10:30:15 +0000 Hong Kong’s bustling Central district was quiet in the small hours of January 27, the last day of the Year of the Monkey, when two seven-seater vans quietly pulled up outside the luxury Four Seasons Place serviced apartments. The eve of the Lunar New Year is always a big occasion for family gatherings and the crowds on the streets were thinner than usual. Five men left the vans at about 1am and went straight into the lift lobby. Moments later, they reappeared on the 28th floor and knocked on the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2071780/big-questions-about-missing-tycoon-why-and-why-now?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2071780/big-questions-about-missing-tycoon-why-and-why-now?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Feb 2017 02:00:30 +0000 New Times Securities, a brokerage house controlled by China’s missing tycoon Xiao Jianhua, the CEO and founder of the investment firm Tomorrow Group, is under investigation by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, according to a company filing by a client of the Beijing firm. Nantong Metalforming Equipment, a forging equipment manufacturer listed in Shenzhen, said in an announcement on the Shenzhen stock exchange on Thursday it had decided to fire New Times Securities as its financial... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2071850/brokerage-house-linked-missing-tycoon-xiao-jianhuau-under-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2071850/brokerage-house-linked-missing-tycoon-xiao-jianhuau-under-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Feb 2017 12:01:41 +0000 Missing mainland billionaire ­Xiao Jianhua received a diplomatic passport from Antigua and ­Barbuda just days before ­President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang met the prime minister of the tiny ­Caribbean ­nation in Beijing. A copy of the passport – which was issued on August 8, 2014, and expired on the same date in 2016 – was passed to the South China Morning Post by a senior Antiguan diplomat, who said the 45-year-old tycoon was appointed as an “ambassador-at-large” for the country because... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2071189/missing-tycoon-xiao-jianhua-had-diplomatic-passport?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2071189/missing-tycoon-xiao-jianhua-had-diplomatic-passport?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Feb 2017 15:45:30 +0000 Doubts are rising over missing ­tycoon Xiao Jianhua’s grip on his vast business empire, with one source close to Xiao’s family ­saying the billionaire’s contact with the outside world has been ­severed “in the last couple of days”. The source said that in the days immediately after his return to the mainland from Hong Kong on January 27, Xiao had been allowed limited external contact, including phone calls to his wife. “That’s not the case any more,” the source said last night. But another... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2070437/confusion-over-missing-chinese-tycoons-grip-business?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2070437/confusion-over-missing-chinese-tycoons-grip-business?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Feb 2017 15:30:45 +0000 The publisher of a financial newspaper reportedly tied to missing Chinese tycoon Xiao Jianhua has been placed under government investigation, prominent news outlet Caixin reported on the weekend. Citing multiple sources, the report said the investigation into Securities Daily publisher Xie Zhenjiang came as ­Xiao helped mainland authorities with their ongoing probe into the 2015 stock market rout. Xiao is the founder of financial group Tomorrow Holdings and had lived at Hong Kong’s luxury Four... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2070260/china-investigates-publisher-newspaper-linked-missing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2070260/china-investigates-publisher-newspaper-linked-missing?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Feb 2017 00:00:30 +0000 The mysterious disappearance of billionaire Xiao Jianhua from a luxury Hong Kong hotel has rekindled fears about mainland law-enforcement authorities illegally operating in the city. There have been disturbing reports that Xiao was abducted by mainland agents, although Hong Kong police say they have not uncovered any evidence to support this. It now seems more likely he was persuaded to return to the mainland to assist with investigations. But the facts are uncertain. The case, following the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2070279/hong-kong-must-sign-rendition-treaty-mainland-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2070279/hong-kong-must-sign-rendition-treaty-mainland-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Feb 2017 17:44:12 +0000 Analysts said it would be a daunting task for China’s stock market watchdog to bring alleged market manipulators back to the mainland to face prosecution. The stock market regulator had limited extradition treaties with other countries – and not even one with its own special administrative region, Hong Kong – the analysts said. The watchdog also had little enforcement authority, they said, so capturing these big market players who were “skinning or sucking the blood of retail investors” would be... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2069958/capturing-chinas-market-manipulators-tough-task?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2069958/capturing-chinas-market-manipulators-tough-task?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Feb 2017 23:03:13 +0000 China will capture a group of tycoons – known as the “big crocodiles” of China’s stock market – and bring them back to the mainland to face justice, the head of its stock market watchdog told an annual work meeting on Friday. The comments by China Securities Regulatory Commission chairman Liu Shiyu, published by mainland media outlet Caixin, mark the clearest sign from Beijing so farthat last month’s disappearance from Hong Kong of billionaire businessman Xiao Jianhua was linked to a mainland... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2069764/chinas-stock-market-regulator-vows-capture-more-tycoons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2069764/chinas-stock-market-regulator-vows-capture-more-tycoons?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Feb 2017 03:30:30 +0000 I think we are going to have to call all the media together and agree which words to use when incidents arise of people moving from Hong Kong to the mainland in circumstances that suggest it may not have been entirely their own idea in the first instance. You see, when I read the word “abduction” it conjures up several exotic possibilities, for example alien abduction, as portrayed in some films and TV series, whereby creatures from another planet take the victim into custody on a space ship for... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/2069489/dont-wail-abduction-next-time-someone-appears-leave-hong-kong-against?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/2069489/dont-wail-abduction-next-time-someone-appears-leave-hong-kong-against?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Feb 2017 08:45:15 +0000 News of the disappearance of Chinese billionaire Xiao Jianhua from Hong Kong was widely reported in the media locally and internationally. Unconfirmed reports said he was abducted and whisked across the border over his business dealings with powerful figures in China who might have been targeted in the graft crackdown. Xiao’s disappearance has raised fresh fears about Beijing’s growing lack of respect for Hong Kong’s autonomy and independence in law enforcement. For wealthy businessmen from the... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2068772/chinese-billionaire-who-rides-tiger-can-never-get?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2068772/chinese-billionaire-who-rides-tiger-can-never-get?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Feb 2017 08:00:15 +0000 The investigation [of Xiao Jinhua] is said to be focused on manipulation that contributed to panic selling during the 2015 market rout. - SCMP, February 2 The law punishes whoever originates or circulates rumours calculated to affect adversely the credit or business of individuals or corporations... But how is the public protected against the danger of buying stocks above their real value? Who punishes the distributor of unjustified bullish news items? Nobody; and yet, the public loses more... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2068531/bear-shanghai-should-be-commended-not-condemned?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2068531/bear-shanghai-should-be-commended-not-condemned?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Feb 2017 23:02:22 +0000 The investigation that netted a mainland billionaire who took sanctuary in Hong Kong likely stems from Beijing’s desire to ensure a smooth leadership transition in a politically sensitive year, sources and analysts said. The curious circumstances surrounding how Xiao Jianhua, a well-connected mainland tycoon, vanished from a Hong Kong luxury hotel on the eve of the Lunar New Year has sparked speculation. ​ Hong Kong police later confirmed that Xiao returned to the mainland legally through... https://www.scmp.com/news/article/2068512/tycoons-return-mainland-political-power-play-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/article/2068512/tycoons-return-mainland-political-power-play-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Feb 2017 13:00:15 +0000 Three of the stocks in which missing Chinese billionaire Xiao Jianhua owns the most substantial stakes continued their sell off in Shanghai on Monday after his reported disappearance in a Hong Kong hotel on January 27, with a total of 4.3 billion yuan in market capitalisation wiped out since last Friday, the first trading day of the Lunar New Year. In the latest development, sources said Xiao, the founder of the Tomorrow Group, had returned to the mainland “legally” to help authorities in... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2068473/key-stocks-tied-missing-billionaire-xiao-jianhua-hit-42bn-yuan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2068473/key-stocks-tied-missing-billionaire-xiao-jianhua-hit-42bn-yuan?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Feb 2017 09:17:43 +0000 Like it or not, it seems the mysterious disappearance of mainland tycoon Xiao Jianhua has not yet stirred up a political storm on the scale of the Causeway Bay booksellers saga, although his case, by nature, can be more complicated. This is quite telling. No doubt, there are many who can’t help but worry whether this is another booksellers type of case where mainland law enforcement agents were suspected to have operated in Hong Kong – something which is not allowed by the city’s Basic Law. But... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/2068218/next-chief-executive-will-face-challenge-striking-rendition-deal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/2068218/next-chief-executive-will-face-challenge-striking-rendition-deal?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Feb 2017 08:45:45 +0000 The Chinese tycoon who vanished from the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong last week – and is now believed to be on the mainland assisting several investigations – is in contact with his family and business, sources have told the Post. They said Xiao Jianhua entered the mainland via normal border control procedures. And Hong Kong’s police chief also rejected speculation that the founder of the Tomorrow Group was kidnapped by mainland agents, saying there was no such evidence. The sources said Xiao... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2068093/chinese-tycoon-contact-family-and-business-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2068093/chinese-tycoon-contact-family-and-business-after?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Feb 2017 07:15:45 +0000 There was no evidence so far that suggested mainland law enforcement agents had acted on Hong Kong soil and taken missing mainland billionaire Xiao Jianhua from the city, Hong Kong police chief Stephen Lo Wai-chung said on Saturday. More than a week has passed since the high-profile tycoon went missing after leaving Hong Kong for Shenzhen. Lo said the force took the case very seriously and was looking at it from all angles, even though Xiao’s wife had withdrawn the missing report to police on... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2068087/no-evidence-so-far-mainland-agents-acting-hong-kong-soil?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2068087/no-evidence-so-far-mainland-agents-acting-hong-kong-soil?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Feb 2017 05:51:57 +0000 Stocks associated with Chinese tycoon Xiao Jianhua, who’s in mainland China to help with police investigations, tumbled on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses when trading resumed after a five-day Lunar New Year break, as the mystery surrounding his whereabouts and circumstances of his departure from Hong Kong deepens. Xiao, ranked 32nd with his wife on Hurun’s China Rich List 2016, is estimated to be worth US$5.97 billion. He owns stakes in several publicly traded companies through private... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2067764/stocks-linked-missing-chinese-tycoon-plunge-mystery-deepens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2067764/stocks-linked-missing-chinese-tycoon-plunge-mystery-deepens?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Feb 2017 03:15:15 +0000 Xiao Jianhua, the Chinese tycoon who mysteriously left Hong Kong on Friday last week, hired female bodyguards from a Shenzhen-based private security firm, according to an executive with the company. Chen Tong, the founder and manager of Zhongzhou Tewei, said on Thursday that Xiao was the company’s only client who made the specific request that most of his bodyguards be women. Chen declined to say how many bodyguards his firm had working for Xiao, or provide further details about his claim. Xiao,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2067552/shenzhen-security-firm-claims-chinese-tycoon-requested?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2067552/shenzhen-security-firm-claims-chinese-tycoon-requested?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Feb 2017 00:00:30 +0000 Was billionaire Xiao Jianhua abducted or did he return to the mainland voluntarily? Many people have already jumped to conclusions. Some are comparing his disappearance to that of five Hong Kong booksellers last year, who reappeared across the border “to assist in investigations” while claiming to have done so voluntarily. It’s understandable that Xiao’s case has attracted international attention. He is one of China’s richest people. If his abduction theory holds, it means no one in Hong Kong is... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2067635/hong-kong-and-mainland-china-need-strike-extradition-pact?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2067635/hong-kong-and-mainland-china-need-strike-extradition-pact?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Feb 2017 18:00:15 +0000