Luxury clubs shuttered in Hangzhou

Thirty private clubs at the famed West Lake resort in Hangzhou in Zhejiang have shut down in the past week, amid President Xi Jinping's war on graft.

Among the clubs, many of which had been operating for years, include one owned by Alibaba Group chairman Jack Ma Yun, and one backed by Hong Kong novelist Louis Cha Leung-yung, Xinhua reported.

Ma along with seven Zhejiang-born businessmen, including NetEase founder William Ding Lei, provided the money behind Jiangnanhui, a high-end, club designed by artist Ai Weiwei and opened in 2006.

Only 400 people have been allowed to join Jiangnanhui and each needed to pay at least 200,000 yuan (HK$254,300) for a life-long membership, according to reports.

Jiangnanhui suspended business last September, a manager told China National Radio, saying the club was seeking a business model transition.

Cha's club, Yunsong Shushe, was built in a traditional style in 1994 with an investment of tens of millions of yuan. Two years later, it was transferred to the Hangzhou government and opened to the public. In 2012 local media revealed it had been transformed into a high-end restaurant.