Bankrupt Banker: China

Liu Genshan one of China's richest men, was detained Saturday by police in eastern Zhejiang province on suspicion of taking money from a project

Shanghai tycoon who made his fortune on highways has been arrested on suspicion of fraud, his lawyer said Wednesday, in the latest high-profile corruption case to hit China's economic hub.Liu Genshan, 51, one of China's richest men, was detained Saturday by police in eastern Zhejiang province on suspicion of taking money from a highway project there, his lawyer Wu Yanlei told AFP.The Yongjin highway was worth 7.5 billion yuan (1.1 billion dollars) according to previous state-run press reports. Police were still investigating and prosecutors had yet to lay any charges, Wu said.Several state newspapers reported Liu was arrested on suspicion of money laundering and fraudulent bank loans worth over 600 million dollars, but Wu said he was only accused of taking money from the Yongjin project. Liu, a philanthropist who was named one of China's 15 wealthiest men by Forbes magazine in 2003, is the latest in a long line of high-flying businessmen and politicians in Shanghai to be tarnished by corruption scandals.State media said Liu was a close associate of businessman Zhang Rongkun, who was sentenced in April to 19years in jail for bribery and his part in a massive pension fund scandal that rocked Shanghai in mid-2006.That scandal pulled down the city's former Communist Party chief Chen Liangyu, who was jailed for 18 years in April after being convicted of abuse of power and accepting bribes. More than 20 officials and businessmen have since been convicted in connection with the pension fund scandal.According to his lawyer, police are investigating Liu's transactions in connection with the 185-kilometre (115-mile) Yongjin highway linking Ningbo and the cities of Shaoxing and Jinhua, which opened in 2005. His business strategy was to buy highways using bank loans and turn them into listed companies, the Shanghai Daily said on Wednesday. He reportedly financed seven highways in Shanghai and neighbouring Zhejiang province.Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission noticed in 2005 that three billion yuan Liu brought to the territory from the mainland was not transferred through the proper channels, the newspaper sai He allegedly used the money to buy a Hong Kong-listed company, which he renamed Maosheng Holdings, the report said. The company was believed to be the biggest shareholder in a highway linking downtown Shanghai to industrial zones in suburban Qingpu, the report said. Although the road cost 420 million yuan to build, the company's official investment was listed as more than eight times that -- at 3.5 billion yuan, the report said. Investments in other projects were apparently similarly inflated while construction on two was halted due to a lack of funds, the newspaper said. Liu was born in Shanghai but is officially a permanent resident of Hong Kong where he has 1.13 billion Hong Kong dollars (145 million US dollars) invested in a Hong Kong-listed real estate and hotel development company, the report said.

Liu Genshan one of China's richest men, was detained Saturday by police in eastern Zhejiang province on suspicion of taking money from a project

Shanghai tycoon who made his fortune on highways has been arrested on suspicion of fraud, his lawyer said Wednesday, in the latest high-prof...

China broke its silence on the issue to admit that organs of executed prisoners were sold to foreigners for transplantation

The horrifying trade in human organs has been revealed by British surgeons who say patients are being tempted abroad, but may not fully understand the dangers or the human suffering behind the transplant operation. Kidney patients who need a transplant in Britain are being targeted by a medical group offering them new organs taken from executed Chinese prisoners. It is thought that as many as 10 British patients may have gone to China this year to receive a new kidney, at a cost of £23,000. One UK patient was believed to be recovering this weekend at a hospital in southern China following such a transplant. The internet company transplantsinternational.com makes it clear that the organs are from prisoners who are about to be executed. The prisoners apparently give their consent and are told that their families will receive money for the 'donation'. Under the heading 'Where do kidneys come from?', the company states: 'A cadaveric kidney comes from a dead person and in the majority of cases in China, the dead people are prisoners, which allows for us to know at least two weeks ahead of time when the kidney will be ready.' It also makes clear that before the death, blood samples are taken from prisoners to ensure they will be the perfect match for their Western beneficiaries. 'All donors are screened to prevent any disease transmission and the prisoners consent to organ donation. Unlike in some Western countries, the prisoners can receive money for their organs.' Dr Peter Andrews, a consultant nephrologist from St Helier Hospital in Surrey, said: 'In the past 18 months we've had at least five patients say they are considering this. Five years ago, it would have been unheard of.' Another doctor, Professor Stephen Wigmore, head of transplantation surgery at University Hospital Birmingham Trust, said that recently one of his patients had gone some way towards preparing for a liver transplant in China, before deciding against it. Doctors in Oxford, Nottingham and Sussex have reported similar cases, according to Hospital Doctor magazine. Prof Nadey Hakim, head of transplantation surgery at Imperial College London, said: 'It is so disgusting it is hard to know how any doctor can take part in this trade. 'Of course people become desperate for a new kidney - but do they realise what this trade is like? I first heard about it a few years ago from a Chinese doctor and I couldn't believe it. Would anyone want to receive an organ from someone who died in this way?' Hakim also has worries about other kinds of transplants carried out in China. 'We know that they have done around 10 arm transplants so far, and I was told that these donors are also prisoners. It raises many difficult ethical issues.' The kidney transplants are carried out at the Southern Hospital in Guangzhou by Dr Lixing Yu, who has performed thousands of kidney transplants over the past 30 years. According to the website, he specialises in research on the long-term survival of patients and has received more than 19 national awards for his work. Earlier this month, China broke its silence on the issue to admit that organs of executed prisoners were sold to foreigners for transplantation. Huang Jiefu, the deputy prime minister, admitted that the practice is widespread, but said they wanted to tighten the rules. 'We want to push for regulations on organ transplants to standardise the management of the supply of organs from executed prisoners and tidy up the medical market,' Mr Huang told Caijing magazine.

China broke its silence on the issue to admit that organs of executed prisoners were sold to foreigners for transplantation

The horrifying trade in human organs has been revealed by British surgeons who say patients are being tempted abroad, but may not fully unde...

European Union and the United States launched a case against China

The European Union and the United States launched a case against China at the World Trade Organisation Monday over the way Beijing regulates foreign providers of financial information.“Competitive and open financial services information markets are the lifeblood of a strong financial sector, but China's rules have tipped the balance against foreign companies,” EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said in a statement.“I trust the EU and China will be able to resolve this issue amicably and to mutual benefit.”The WTO umpires the world trade system.Brussels and Washington object to rules that require data suppliers such as Reuters Group, Bloomberg and Dow Jones, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., to operate in China through the state news agency Xinhua – which is also their competitor – instead of dealing directly with customers.“We take note that the European Union has brought up the issue in the dispute settlement system and we will respect any other members' rights under the mechanism,” said an official at China's WTO mission.“We shall study the request forconsultations and deal with it according to WTO procedures,” the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said the current rules placed U.S. and other foreign suppliers of information at a serious disadvantage. Although Washington had raised the issue repeatedly it had not been resolved.“It is not in China's interest to restrict access to the high-quality, comprehensive financial information provided by foreign service suppliers,” Ms. Schwab said in a statement.Ms. Schwab noted that the rules introduced in 2006 were more restrictive than those prevailing when China joined the WTO.The two trade powers clearly hope this could lead to a swift resolution at the consultation stage of the case as WTO members are not supposed to restrict market access unilaterally. Chinese officials have argued that national security interests require China to regulate the flow of news internally.But the EU and the United States say the dispute is about financial data, such as stock prices and currency rates, rather than news. Financial experts say the Chinese market for financial information was worth over $100-million (U.S.) in 2006 and is still expanding.“We are confident that consultations between the U.S., EU and Chinese governments within the WTO framework will result in an outcome that will support the development of China's financial markets by ensuring the effective flow of financial information,” a Reuters spokesman said.The case is likely to add to strains between Beijing and Washington and Brussels stemming from China's record and still expanding trade surpluses with both the European Union and the United States.China suffered its first loss in a WTO dispute earlier this month in a case involving imported auto parts, brought jointly by the United States, the European Union and Canada.It is facing several other cases, brought mainly by the United States. But China, whose international trade has benefited greatly since it joined the WTO in 2001, settled a case with the United States and Mexico over tax breaks in November without going to a dispute panel, and has used the WTO to bring its own cases.Under WTO rules, the European Union and the United States would hold consultations with China for 60 days. If those fail to resolve the conflict, Washington and Brussels would seek the formation of a panel.

European Union and the United States launched a case against China

The European Union and the United States launched a case against China at the World Trade Organisation Monday over the way Beijing regulates...