At the beginning of the year of Yisi, Wu Shaohua, the former branch manager of the Export-Import Bank of China who had left his position for many years, was announced to be under investigation. He was responsible for foreign aid preferential loans at the Export-Import Bank and later moved to the BRICS Bank, where he also handled project financing to support infrastructure development in developing countries. Previously, officials from the same system had been investigated. Analysts believe that the trouble encountered by Wu Shaohua and related officials confirms the serious corruption issues hidden behind the Chinese authorities’ excessive money printing in foreign relations.
On the evening of February 6, 2025, according to the Communist Party’s Discipline Inspection Commission and the National Supervisory Commission stationed at the Export-Import Bank of China, as well as the Hubei Province Discipline Inspection Commission, the former party secretary and branch manager of the Beijing branch, Wu Shaohua, is undergoing inspection and investigation.
Reported on February 7 by Caixin, Wu Shaohua was detained before the Chinese New Year holiday. However, a source indicated that Wu Shaohua had left the branch many years ago, yet for some unknown reason, he was still being investigated in the capacity of the Beijing branch manager of the Export-Import Bank. It is said that Wu Shaohua had been working for international organizations in recent years.
According to reports, there is no official resume for Wu Shaohua, but public records show that he graduated from Beijing Jiaotong University. In 2008, he served as the general manager of the preferential loan department at the Export-Import Bank, which is the designated bank for China’s foreign aid preferential loans and preferential export buyer credits, related to China’s “Regional Interconnection” with developing countries.
From 2009 to 2011, Wu Shaohua was the branch manager of the Beijing branch of the Export-Import Bank. In 2012, Wu Shaohua led a team abroad in his capacity as the general manager of the company’s business department at the Export-Import Bank. On April 8, 2014, regulatory authorities approved Wu Shaohua’s qualifications as the branch manager of the Export-Import Bank’s Paris branch. The Paris branch is the first overseas branch of the bank, holding a banking business license in France. The bank’s 2023 report indicated that the Paris branch is the only foreign branch.
Insiders pointed out that after leaving the Export-Import Bank, Wu Shaohua joined the New Development Bank of BRICS countries as the director of project financing. Around 2022, he served as the director of the non-sovereign and private sector division at the BRICS Bank.
Established in July 2015, the BRICS Bank provides support for infrastructure construction and sustainable development projects of BRICS countries and other so-called emerging economies and developing countries. It was reported that when the BRICS Bank was founded, some personnel were sent over by the Export-Import Bank to work there, and Wu Shaohua was among them. As a result, the Export-Import Bank subsequently had business cooperation with the BRICS Bank.
Prior to Wu Shaohua, on January 26, 2022, the former branch manager of the Beijing branch of the Export-Import Bank, Li Li, was investigated. However, Li Li had only been transferred from the Shanghai branch to the Beijing branch in 2019.
On July 17, 2024, Wang Fade, the former party secretary and branch manager of the Tianjin branch of the Export-Import Bank, was investigated. Wang Fade also worked in the preferential loan department at an earlier stage, serving as a deputy general manager, and later becoming the branch manager of the Ningbo branch and the Tianjin branch. Both Wang Fade and Wu Shaohua were investigated by the Supervisory Commission of Xiangyang City, Hubei Province.
Political commentator Li Linyi stated that the businesses once overseen by Wu Shaohua were all related to foreign aid loans, which are intertwined with the Chinese authorities’ excessive money printing. Therefore, incidents involving such financial officials affirm that the Chinese Communist Party’s lavish spending on the pretext of developing the “Belt and Road” not only lead to corruption and debt issues in recipient countries but also create opportunities for corruption among domestic officials.
Since assuming power, Xi Jinping, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, has been known for his lavish spending in foreign relations. Despite China’s ongoing economic decline in recent years, soaring local debts, economic downturns across various sectors, and rising public discontent, he continues his extravagant spending in international affairs.
At the opening ceremony of the Beijing “China-Africa Cooperation Forum” on September 5 last year, Xi Jinping announced that China would provide 360 billion yuan of financial support to Africa in the next three years. In November of the same year, at the G20 Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Xi Jinping once again generously extended financial support to so-called “Global South” countries, including up to 780 billion yuan in financing for the “Belt and Road” initiative.
It is worth noting that the former branch manager of the Beijing Export-Import Bank, Wu Shaohua, shares the same name with Wu Shaohua, the son of former member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, Wu Guanzheng. The latter, born in April 1964, previously served as the former vice president of China Everbright Group, a member of the Party Committee and vice president of China Life Group.