In a recent incident that has caused outrage online, a case of sexual assault and injury has been exposed at a government-business gathering in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Following days of online discussion, authorities confirmed that Hangzhou Binjiang district deputy director Yu Tingdong and Zhao Haifeng, general manager of Zhejiang Company under Communist Party’s state-owned China Merchants Group, forcibly committed indecent acts during the gathering. Both individuals have been dismissed from their positions and criminally detained. It is noted that the involved officials had been previously recognized as “responsible and competent cadres” in Hangzhou.
On August 18, a task force established by the Hangzhou government reported that on the night of July 26, suspect Zhao, a senior corporate executive, and Yu, a public official in the Binjiang district, sexually assaulted a victim at a KTV establishment following a meal. Throughout the incident, Zhao pushed the victim, causing injuries to their waist. The victim is currently receiving medical treatment and has been preliminarily assessed as having suffered second-degree injuries. Zhao and Yu have been criminally detained and dismissed from their positions.
The suspects mentioned in the official report are Zhao Haifeng, general manager of Zhejiang Company under China Merchants Group, and Yu Tingdong, deputy director of the Binjiang district in Hangzhou, who have recently been the subject of public discussion.
The report confirmed the widely discussed incident known as the “Hangzhou Feast Sacrifice.”
According to earlier reports, the state-owned enterprise China Merchants Group’s real estate subsidiary, China Merchants Shekou, collaborated with the local state-owned enterprise Jianfa Real Estate (Jianfa Real Estate Group Co., Ltd.) to acquire the Erbao South plot in Binjiang, Hangzhou for approximately 6 billion yuan. To celebrate the acquisition, these two enterprises hosted a “celebration banquet” at a restaurant called Dayuezhuang in Hangzhou, attended by Jianfa Real Estate’s Hangzhou division general manager Ma Zhenggang, China Merchants Shekou’s Hangzhou general manager Zhao Haifeng, and Hangzhou Binjiang district deputy director Yu Tingdong.
The victim, surnamed Li, is a young employee of Jianfa Real Estate, who was instructed by her supervisor Ma Zhenggang to rush to the banquet venue after work. Upon arrival, she found seven to eight male leaders in the private room. Li was immediately asked to “pour the wine” (a euphemism for drinking), and was compelled to consume over half a kilogram of Maotai liquor in a short period, leading to severe intoxication and loss of consciousness.
The official report only mentioned the victim suffering “waist injuries.” However, multiple sources in the real estate industry previously revealed that after the banquet, the woman was taken to a business KTV downstairs, where Yu Tingdong and Zhao Haifeng sexually assaulted and exerted pressure on her. The woman fiercely resisted, but was violently pushed and abused, resulting in the rupture of her spleen and kidneys.
According to the “Beijing News,” colleagues of the victim stated that she did not drink excessively at the gathering. A person familiar with the matter mentioned that as the woman’s attempts to seek help were futile, she bravely resisted. When she first arrived at the hospital, she was in a state of unconsciousness.
According to Pengpai News, Ma Zhenggang has also been suspended by the company pending investigation.
This incident has garnered widespread attention online. The WeChat official account “Yi Real Estate” published an article titled “A Feast Sacrifice at a Banquet Unveils the Hidden Rules of Hangzhou Real Estate,” criticizing how in the context of “who holds the land, who controls the situation,” officials who control land and approval processes have absolute dominance, often leading to female employees becoming victims of the nexus between government and business interests.
Binjiang district is known as the “first zone of digital economy” in Hangzhou. Developers have mentioned that the district has the “highest land prices, strictest controls, and most detailed approvals.” Yu Tingdong, responsible for urban construction, land, and project approvals as the deputy district director, is an influential figure that real estate developers cannot bypass.
A renowned blogger on Weibo commented, “What does this indicate? It shows that this phenomenon has existed for many years. It also shows that this phenomenon is widespread, regardless of the city. The workplace environment is part of the larger environment, which is quite disappointing. It seems that one understands the utility of a song and dance troupe kept by Xu Jiayin (a prominent businessman). Perhaps he doesn’t use it himself, but it’s for work needs. Those in approval departments have become accustomed to such receptions.”
Online commentary has pointed out, “It is evident that government officials are accustomed to freeloading in their daily lives.”
Yu Tingdong has a long history of working in the Binjiang district’s urban construction system. He has previously served as the deputy director of the Hangzhou High-tech Zone Management Committee and the deputy district director of Binjiang, overseeing urban construction and real estate management. Zhao Haifeng, the general manager of the involved state-owned enterprise China Merchants Shekou in Zhejiang, a Tsinghua University graduate and a former top scorer in the college entrance exams in Jiangsu, had a 17-year tenure at Vanke before joining China Merchants Shekou at the end of 2019.
Ironically, as disclosed by “Guanhai Finance,” in 2023, Hangzhou issued a public notice of the selection of “responsible and competent cadres in Hangzhou.” The list included a total of 90 individuals, among whom was Yu Tingdong, the deputy director of Binjiang district.
Chinese affairs expert Li Linyi stated that the corruption and moral decay in China’s political and business sectors did not start recently, as Jiang Zemin once governed with corruption and debauchery. However, in today’s context under Xi Jinping’s crackdown, officialdom is moving towards indifference, with many officials diverting more focus to extravagance and indulgence. Moreover, as the economy worsens, rent-seeking behavior by those in power becomes more pronounced, a systemic issue that can never be solved in the single-party dictatorship.
It is worth noting that just at the end of May this year, Deng Fuguo, deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee’s Financial Office, in the course of a dinner hosted by Zhang Cheng, the acting mayor of Cixi City under Ningbo’s leadership during a visit, sexually assaulted a female colleague in a restroom. Following the rapid escalation of the incident, Deng Fuguo faced consequences.