Henan entrepreneur couple Wang Fei, who once possessed assets worth tens of millions and had been named a model laborer in the local area multiple times, were detained by authorities for 712 days on suspicion of fraud. Eventually, they were released without charges and received a state compensation of about 410,000 yuan. However, their numerous businesses under their name eventually collapsed, leading the couple to now make a living through odd jobs.
On July 31, Henan entrepreneur Wang Fei mentioned his ordeal during a live broadcast, tearfully expressing, “I was detained for no reason, and upon release, the assets worth tens of millions turned into nothing. I am now burdened with debts of over 30 million yuan…”
According to legal documents, on January 19, 2023, Wang Fei and his wife were criminally detained by the Xinyu County Public Security Bureau in Zhumadian City, Henan. With the approval of the Xinyu County Procuratorate, on February 14, they were arrested by the Xinyu County Public Security Bureau on suspicion of fraud.
Despite the numerous doubts surrounding the case, the prosecution officially filed charges half a year later. The indictment from the Xinyu County Procuratorate accused Wang Fei and his wife of forging contracts and receipts in 2021 to falsely claim construction subsidies for a cold storage, defrauding a subsidy of 1 million yuan (the sum was recovered and turned over to the treasury after the incident).
Over the next 8 months, the case went through four court hearings with significant disagreements between the prosecution and defense. On May 16, 2024, the Xinyu County Procuratorate withdrew the charges. On the same day, Wang Fei was released on bail, while his wife had already been released on bail in advance. By then, Wang Fei had been detained for a total of 485 days in both Zhumadian City and Xinyu County detention centers.
On June 6, 2024, the Xinyu County Procuratorate made a “non-prosecution decision” regarding Wang Fei and his wife. From their police detention, bail, until finally regaining freedom, it amounted to a total of 712 days.
After their release, Wang Fei and his wife immediately applied for state compensation from the prosecution, although not all of their demands were met. Nearly a year later, the Procuratorate made a criminal compensation decision, supporting only compensation for personal freedom and some mental distress damages.
The prosecution’s decision: calculating at about 475 yuan per day, they would pay Wang Fei approximately 230,000 yuan for personal freedom compensation, Liu Sumin around 107,000 yuan for personal freedom compensation, with mental distress consolation payments of 50,000 yuan and 22,000 yuan for both individuals, respectively. They also agreed to “eliminate the impact, restore reputation, and offer public apologies” to the couple.
Dissatisfied with the compensation decision, Wang Fei and his wife subsequently applied for reconsideration, but the outcome upheld the original decision. Wang Fei told Red Star News that after they were taken away for detention in January 2023, with aging parents and their two children still in school, their two pig farms in Songgang Village, Yaozhuang, Xinyu County, their hometown, were left unattended.
Wang Fei stated that during their detention, besides their accounts being frozen, the pig farms suffered massive pig deaths due to lack of management, while their Golden Yuan Agricultural Processing Factory in the industrial concentration zone of Xinyu County suffered order defaults and over ten tons of raw materials and products turned moldy and spoiled due to production halts. “Because of the defaults, there are still suppliers suing me for compensation.”
Born in 1970, Wang Fei grew up in Songgang Village, Yaozhuang, Xinyu County. In 1991, Wang Fei, a second-year high school student who did not complete his studies due to family difficulties as he couldn’t afford education for himself and his younger brother, dropped out and returned home. After marrying Liu Sumin from the same village in 1993, Wang Fei began poultry hatching. He continued this for 7 years until shifting his focus to pig farming.
Through self-study and dedication, Wang Fei’s animal husbandry business grew, and he even made his first fortune in life by capitalizing on market opportunities. Feeling the success, Wang Fei expanded his business further. Over the next decade, Wang Fei and his wife founded pig farms, agricultural technology companies, and planting cooperatives, planning to invest billions to create a complete industry chain.
In 2016, Wang Fei was attracted by investment incentives to relocate to the industrial concentration zone in the county town of Xinyu County, “with bank loans and private loans, a total investment of over fifty million.” Including cultivation, animal husbandry, and processing, Wang Fei planned to invest billions to build a complete industry chain.
However, before the new factory could start operations, Wang Fei and his wife were taken away by the police on suspicion of fraud. During their detention, both pig farms faced severe challenges due to lack of management. With mounting debts, Wang Fei had to make tough decisions. To repay debts of over 30 million yuan, Wang Fei had to let others operate the newly built factory after clearing the debts. “In reality, I sold it to someone else, as I couldn’t run it myself. Once they clear the debts for me, the factory will belong to them.”
Wang Fei mentioned that with debts of nearly 30 million yuan, both pig farms had no pigs left, prompting him and his wife to rent a house in the county town, relying on odd jobs to survive.
Regarding the plight of Wang Fei and his wife, many netizens also expressed their opinions.
“In one word, tragic. In two words, truly tragic. It’s lucky they didn’t resort to desperation or suicide. If the law doesn’t provide a basic safety net, more people may end up hopeless.”
“There have been many reports like this; how many more have not been reported? Assets worth tens of millions, a thriving business ruined by them. There’s nowhere to seek justice, no one to hold accountable! They can target anyone they want!”
Some netizens commented, “Power is so domineering. They can target you whenever they want.” Another said, “They were fattened by the local authorities, then slaughtered.”
Such experiences are not uncommon and have long been a cause for concern.
In 2019, as China’s economy continued to decline, and with the increasing fear among private enterprises due to the “retreat of the private sector” narrative, Sun Qian, former Deputy Procurator-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of the Communist Party of China, addressed the situation of people being arrested and businesses being shut down at a committee meeting. He stated, “In the past, as soon as individual private entrepreneurs were suspected of crimes, they were sent to the police station,” resulting in the paralysis of their businesses.
Sun Qian mentioned that during a provincial survey, he found that several dozen of the top 100 private enterprise owners in the province had been arrested, leading to layoffs and shutdowns of their businesses, affecting government tax revenues.
Previously reported incidents like the “debt criminalization” by the Guizhou government has sparked controversy.
According to the China Business News, the minority ethnic female entrepreneur Ma Yijia, after building ten government projects including the poverty alleviation relocation project in Liupanshui City, Guizhou Province, had been trying to collect payments for years. At the end of 2023, Ma Yijia was criminally detained by local police on charges of “provocation and troublemaking.” Before her arrest, the local government proposed settling all debts for 12 million yuan, which she and her lawyer rejected, leading to the incident.
Amid the low confidence in private enterprises, local governments have occasionally released calming signals.
In July 2023, Shangqiu City in Henan Province introduced “Business Quiet Days,” pledging not to enforce laws in enterprises for the first 20 days of each month. In March of the same year, the Hainan Provincial Government also calmed private enterprises by promising policies such as refraining from arresting those involved in private enterprises and avoiding harsh sentencing whenever possible.
In the face of the authorities, why do Chinese private enterprises repeatedly find themselves in disadvantaged positions? In 2024, the Yancheng City Judicial Bureau in Jiangsu Province praised itself for having “not lost a single case in five years,” while boasting of a 100% appearance rate of government officials in court for two consecutive years, sparking public outrage.
According to reports, the national average administrative agency losing rate in 2022 was 14.99%, whereas in Jiangsu Province, it was 7.8%. Such actions have led many netizens to comment, “Ruling by law, with such overwhelming resources in their hands, people dare to hold onto the courage of those who want to sue them. Everything they do seems so legal.”