Mysterious woman linked to Zhou Yongkang's rumored 'white glove' Wu Bing
Staff Reporter 2013-09-15 16:18
Zhou Yongkang at the 18th National Congress in Beijing on Nov. 14, 2012, shortly before his retirement. (Photo/Xinhua)
A mysterious woman has been identified as a core player in the corruption scandal involving Sichuan businessman Wu Bing, the rumored "white glove" of retired political heavyweight and oil tzar Zhou Yongkang, reports Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.
The 50-year-old Wu was detained in Beijing on Aug. 1 and is rumored to be assisting China's anti-graft authorities in an investigation into Zhou Yongkang, who until his retirement last November one of China's most powerful men. The 70-year-old Zhou was formerly a member of the all-powerful Politburo Standing Bureau and chief of the country's security forces and law enforcement institutions. Earlier in his career Zhou was also the general manager of state-owned oil giant China National Petroleum Corp and the minister of Land and Resources. A WikiLeaks cable from 2009 revealed that the US government believes he heads a group of individuals who control the interests of China's lucrative oil industry.
It has been widely reported that Wu is closely linked to both Zhou Yongkang and his son, Zhou Bin, and is suspected of being a "white glove" in charge of laundering millions of illicit funds for the Zhou family. The recent arrests of four former CNPC executives and former CNPC chief Jiang Jiemin, all of whom are linked to Zhou Yongkang, have ramped up speculation that authorities are closing in on the retired politician.
The Guangzhou-based 21st Century Business Herald has reported that Wu controls Zhongxu Investment, which was established in 2001 with 100 million yuan (US$16.3 million) in registered capital. The company was initially involved in building hydro power stations and roads in southwest China's Sichuan province but then branched out to oil and industrial electronic products.
Four or five businesses under the Zhongxu umbrella that appear to be unrelated to Wu are or were said to be controlled by a mysterious woman by the name of Zhan Minli. Available information shows that Zhan was born in 1942 and graduated from the Beijing Professional Business Institute in 1967. She is the wife of Zhongxu supervisor Huang Yusheng, the son of renowned Chinese geologist Huang Jiqing, who has been credited with helping China locate lucrative oil and gas fields.
The Beijing branch of Zhongxu was set up in 2004 under the name Beijing Zhongxu Yangguang Petroleum and Natural Gas Technology. According to the company website, which is no longer available, Beijing Zhongxu was in charge of building and managing 8,000 petrol stations under CNPC's management system. Of the 17 major projects listed on its website, 15 were related to CNPC.
Zhan is one of the two founding shareholders of Beijing Zhongxu, which underwent a series of complex ownership changes between 2007 and 2010. In January 2010, the last of the transactions involving Zhan, she transferred all of her remaining stock, worth 16 million yuan (US$2.6 million), to a Beijing man named Zhou Bin, believed to be the same person as Zhou Yongkang's son.
Two months after the transaction, the company changed its name to Zhongxu Yangguang Energy and Technology Ltd Corp. Zhou was named company chairman with 80% of the shares of the company, which at the time had net assets worth 32.6 million yuan (US$5.3 million). Zhou left the board in December last year.
Zhongxu Investment is currently solely owned by Zhongxu Shengshi Fenghua Investment Co, a Beijing-based entertainment investment firm also believed to be controlled by Wu.
