China’s mega-wealthy are a secretive bunch, so it came as a surprise when one of the country’s richest men fell under the spotlight during the trial of the Rio Four.
Steel magnate Du Shuanghua (杜雙華), head of Rizhao Steel, was named during the proceedings at a Shanghai court where Rio Tinto employees faced hours of questioning.
Du, China’s second-wealthiest man in 2008 according to the Hurun Institute’s rich list, allegedly gave US$9 million to Wang Yong (王勇), one of the Rio executives, the court was told. Wang’s lawyer denied wrongdoing and said the money was a loan to buy shares in companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The naming of Du by one of the accused executives added an extra dimension to a trial that is politically and economically sensitive.
Zhang Peihong (張培鴻), Wang’s lawyer, said his client’s case turned on allegations he accepted a US$9 million bribe from Du, who owns a big stake in Rizhao, one of the country’s largest steel makers, or whether the money was paid for other purposes as he said.
Steel companies have pushed in recent years to secure supply contracts with big miners, such as Rio, as the contract price has often been lower than the global spot price for iron ore.
The Financial Times said Du has also been involved in a battle to retain control of Rizhao, after coming under pressure to sell a majority stake in his company to a state-owned rival.
In an interview in a Chinese magazine, Du said his objectives were not limited to having the largest steel enterprise in Shandong Province. He wants to expand into port construction and develop metals technology.
Former premier Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) might have said that getting rich was glorious three decades ago, but China’s millionaires have every reason to shun publicity. When a Forbes magazine survey of China’s richest appeared in 1999, observers called it the “death list” after a tax crackdown targeted many of those mentioned, with scores jailed and several executed.
Du grew up in Hebei Province. His father headed a department at a steel plant and he worked there, leaving at 22 to set up his own factory making steel tubes.
“He could not afford to hire a crane ... He moved bricks himself and ate steamed bread with workers on the ground,” Du Qinghe, the Chinese Communist Party secretary of his hometown, told a Chinese newspaper.
Business boomed and more plants followed — until a steel shortage in 2001. Du spotted his chance and moved into the industry, catapulting him into the big league. It reportedly took him less than six months to build his first mill and start production.
WAKE-UP CALL: Firms in the private sector were not taking basic precautions, despite the cyberthreats from China and Russia, a US cybersecurity official said A ninth US telecom firm has been confirmed to have been hacked as part of a sprawling Chinese espionage campaign that gave officials in Beijing access to private texts and telephone conversations of an unknown number of Americans, a top White House official said on Friday. Officials from the administration of US President Joe Biden this month said that at least eight telecommunications companies, as well as dozens of nations, had been affected by the Chinese hacking blitz known as Salt Typhoon. US Deputy National Security Adviser for Cyber and Emerging Technologies Anne Neuberger on Friday told reporters that a ninth victim
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war in the latest such swap that saw the release of hundreds of captives and was brokered with the help of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), officials said on Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that 189 Ukrainian prisoners, including military personnel, border guards and national guards — along with two civilians — were freed. He thanked the UAE for helping negotiate the exchange. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that 150 Russian troops were freed from captivity as part of the exchange in which each side released 150 people. The reason for the discrepancy in numbers
A shark attack off Egypt’s Red Sea coast killed a tourist and injured another, authorities said on Sunday, with an Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs source identifying both as Italian nationals. “Two foreigners were attacked by a shark in the northern Marsa Alam area, which led to the injury of one and the death of the other,” the Egyptian Ministry of Environment said in a statement. A source at the Italian foreign ministry said that the man killed was a 48-year-old resident of Rome. The injured man was 69 years old. They were both taken to hospital in Port Ghalib, about 50km north
MISSING: Prosecutors urged the company to move workers out of poor living conditions to hotels, but residents said many workers had already left the town Brazil has stopped issuing temporary work visas for BYD, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday, in the wake of accusations that some workers at a site owned by the Chinese electric vehicle producer had been victims of human trafficking. The announcement came days after labor authorities said they found 163 Chinese workers who had been brought to Brazil irregularly in “slavery-like” conditions at the BYD factory construction site in the northeastern state of Bahia. The workers were employed by contractor Jinjiang Group, which has denied any wrongdoing. Later, the authorities also said the workers were victims of human trafficking,
RSS