By: April Feng
The Chinese Communist Party’s inner elite circle holds millions of real estate and company investments in Hong Kong. However, these investments also put them at a certain risk.
Li Qianxin, the daughter of the CCP’s No. 3 leader, has heavily invested in Hong Kong’s economy, like many of her peers. For many years, she has established herself deep within the elite circle of Hong Kong’s major business people and various company executives. In fact, she herself is the “chairwoman of a state-owned investment bank based in Hong Kong,” says The New York Times.
Ms. Li has also bought a $15 million townhouse, proof of her deep financial investments in Hong Kong real estate. Her partner has reportedly spent “hundreds of millions on a stake in the storied Peninsula Hotel that he later sold.”
Like many other members of the Communist nobility, China’s top leaders, Ms. Li binds herself to the fate of Hong Kong’s financial status. Thus, many leaders in Beijing have passed various laws to ensure the financial stability of Hong Kong and quash dissent. Specifically, a new national security law is “aimed at stamping out opposition to the ruling Communist Party,” according to The New York Times.
Although, foreign countries have already begun to oppose this new law. On Friday, sanctions were imposed by the Trump administration on many senior officials of both Hong Kong and the mainland. In turn, some officials condemned the sanctions as “blatant and barbaric interference” in Chinese politics.
According to The New York Times, Luo Huining, the head of China’s liaison office to Hong Kong, said “the American efforts were a waste because he had no holdings in the United States.” As relations between the United States and China reach a historical low, almost to the point of “no return”, tensions continue to rise.
Willy Lam, professor of China studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, states, “Members of the Red aristocracy in China, including the princelings, have made huge investments in Hong Kong. If Hong Kong suddenly loses its financial status, they cannot park their money here.”
Similar to Ms. Li, investments have been made by Qi Qiaoqiao, the sister of China’s president, Xi Jinping. She has been purchasing Hong Kong properties since 1991. Her daughter has done the same, owning a villa worth $19.3 million in Repulse Bay and many other apartments as well.
However, all the elite still attempt to keep a low profile, and there is a reason behind such secrecy. The Communist Party fears that so many heavy investments made by the Chinese elite could be regarded as corruption and abuse of privilege, even causing resentment of Beijing.
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