Beijing denounces NYT report on Wen family wealth

Family of Wen Jiabao owns hidden fortune, New York Times report says

Reading Time:2 minutes

Published: 9:53am, 26 Oct 2012Updated: 9:48am, 5 May 2015

China’s Foreign Ministry hit out at a New York Times report on Friday which claimed that Premier Wen Jiabao’s family had amassed massive wealth during his term in office.

“Some reports smear China and have ulterior motives,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in response to a question about the report, which said that Wen’s family controlled assets worth US$2.7 billion dollars from 1992 until this year.

The New York Times said on Thursday in a report that the relatives of China’s prime minister have controlled assets worth at least US$2.7 billion, in a move likely to further embarrass the Communist Party ahead of its power handover.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his wife Zhang Peili in 2011. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The family of Wen Jiabao, who will be replaced in a once-in-a-decade leadership transition next month, have become “extraordinarily wealthy” during his term in office, the newspaper alleged.

Their investments span banks, jewellers, tourist resorts, telecommunications companies and infrastructure projects, with the owners of the assets often concealed by using offshore vehicles or complicated holding structures.

The investigation, based on corporate and regulatory records from 1992 to this year, compiled alleged dealings by Wen’s son, daughter, younger brother and brother-in-law, as well as his mother.