Survey of Chinese Tycoons

Author: Xiao Chuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: This book presents to you the sins and punishments of China's wealthy, their mentality and survival environment. First, they rely on "cultural capital," that is, winning wealth through intellectual factors such as cultural knowledge and technical skills. Second, they rely on "economic capital," that is, accumulating wealth through the continuous expansion and initial accumulation of capital. What people cannot accept and detest is the use of "power capital," that is, the way of getting rich by joining the upper class through improper gray transactions.
Excerpt: Most fugitive tycoons come from the financial system and state-owned enterprises. "Make a quick profit and run away; run away and be done with it." In recent years, under the thunderous crackdown, domestic and some overseas officials who committed corruption and crimes have fled overseas to escape punishment, often carrying huge sums of money. According to incomplete statistics, more than 4,000 suspected embezzlers and bribe-takers have fled with over 5 billion yuan in public funds, leading to a massive loss of state assets and extremely severe social harm. Yan Xudong, the deputy director of the Financial Department of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region's Transportation Department, colluded with others to embezzle more than 50 million yuan in basic road construction funds and fled abroad; Fang Jiaxing, a corrupt official from Ningbo, escaped to Canada with nearly 1 million yuan in stolen money; Ai Haimaiti, an employee of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps' Wulumuqi Branch of the Agricultural Bank, fled Russia with 2.3 million yuan in stolen funds; Chen Guoqiang and Lin Jincai, employees of the Construction Bank of Dongguan, Guangdong, fled to Thailand, transferring hundreds of millions of yuan in stolen money; in the Bank of China Nanhai Branch case, the suspect fled overseas with 40 million yuan; and in the Kaiping case, billions of yuan in funds were laundered into cash through Macau and Las Vegas casinos and deposited into the accounts of the involved parties in foreign countries. According to estimates by experts from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the total scale of capital flight from 1997 to 1999 alone was as high as 52 billion U.S. dollars. These are! However, the amount of money carried by corrupt officials fleeing overseas has been continuously rising, and the value of the cases involved has greatly increased compared to before 1995. Cases of corruption and embezzlement of hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan have become common. "Among the fugitives, many hold positions in the financial system, as well as managers, directors of state-owned companies and enterprises, and financial and marketing personnel who directly handle and manage money." The case shows that some financial departments in the country are the first major disaster zones for corrupt officials fleeing overseas. Xu Guojun, Yu Zhendong, and Xu Chaofan, the three former leaders of the Bank of China Kaiping Branch, stole 483 million yuan and fled overseas respectively. State-owned enterprises are another major disaster zone for corrupt officials fleeing overseas. Among the more than 120 fugitive suspects prosecuted by the Beijing Procuratorial Office in 2001, 70% were general managers, deputy general managers, and accounting personnel of state-owned enterprises. Zhou Changqing, the general manager and automotive department manager of the Xi'an Municipal Electrical and Mechanical Equipment Co., Ltd. under state control, had been to Macau 16 times for gambling, losing 48 million yuan in public funds. He then held a passport under the alias "Li Zhiming" and left from Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou, passing through Hong Kong to France, and then escaping to Ecuador in South America. Due to the language barrier and lack of means, he was almost penniless when he was arrested. On January 10, 2003, this former entrepreneur who once made outstanding contributions was legally executed by a gunshot in Xi'an, having gambled away his life. Cases of state-owned enterprise executives fleeing to unknown destinations have also been reported in various parts of the country in recent years. Taking Yunnan Province as an example, Chen Chuanbai, the former (general manager) of Kunming Cigarette Factory, embezzled 160 million yuan and fled overseas; a few years ago, after the corruption case of Chu Shijian, the former chairman of Yunnan Hongta Group, was exposed, he attempted to flee to Vietnam but was intercepted by the border inspection station. "The 36 Stratagems say, 'Flight is the best strategy,' but fleeing overseas without a substantial amount of money as a backing is no easy feat. The concentration of corrupt officials fleeing in the financial system and state-owned enterprises dealing with money and state assets is not accidental.
2. The 4 Destinations of Fugitive Tycoons According to statistical analysis, the destinations of fugitive tycoons in China can be roughly divided into four categories: 1. Those with relatively small amounts involved and lower ranks mostly flee to neighboring countries like Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Mongolia, and Russia. 2. Those with large amounts involved and higher ranks mostly flee to developed Western countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands. 3. Some officials who cannot obtain visas for Western countries may choose to hide in obscure, less legally regulated small countries in Africa, Latin America, or Eastern Europe as temporary bases, waiting for the right opportunity to transition. 4. A considerable number of fugitives transit through Hong Kong, taking advantage of Hong Kong's status as a global aviation hub and the convenience of visa-free entry to former British Commonwealth countries, before fleeing to other countries. Some corrupt officials, after fleeing overseas, spend their huge sums of money extravagantly and live a wealthy, paradise-like life. According to the U.S. Chinese-language newspaper "World Journal," some American accountants were stunned by the wealth of certain former Chinese officials who settled in the U.S. Many of them could purchase houses worth millions of dollars in full payment. Now, it is common to see many Chinese people in Los Angeles driving ultra-luxury cars, adorned with jewelry, and spending freely. Much of their wealth is ill-gotten gains. Chen Manxiang and Chen Qiuyuan, a couple who served as the manager and legal representative of Zhongshan Municipal Industrial Development Corporation, respectively, transferred 420 million yuan in overdrafts to the company's account through a colleague in a bank's transfer department, constituting the largest domestic corruption and embezzlement case in 1995. Just as the procuratorial organs were investigating the two, they fled with the money to Chiang Mai, Thailand, bought Thai identities, and changed their names to Su