Former member of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee and former Secretary of the Huangpu District Committee, Zhou Yawei, was investigated yesterday (26th) for alleged involvement in collusion between officials and businessmen during his tenure, leading to significant investment losses. Analysts believe that several former high-ranking officials from Guangdong Province are also implicated behind Zhou Yawei, and his promotion is related to Zhang Chunxian, former Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
On the evening of July 26, the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Communist Party of Guangdong Province announced that Zhou Yawei, former member of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee and former Secretary of the Huangpu District Committee, is “suspected of serious violations of discipline and law” and is currently under investigation.
Public records show that Zhou Yawei was born in 1963 in Taishun, Zhejiang Province. He worked in Taishun, Zhejiang before serving as the manager of Hainan Zhongdao Group Industrial Development Company in July 1992. He then held positions such as Vice General Manager and General Manager of the Hainan Branch of the China Packaging and Food Machinery Corporation, Assistant President of the China Road and Bridge (Group) Corporation. In 2003, Zhou Yawei served as the Deputy Mayor of Tonghua City, Jilin Province, and from 2004 onwards, he held various positions in the Guangzhou Municipal Government, including Deputy Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary, District Chief, and District Secretary of Liwan District.
Established in 1984, the Guangzhou Development Zone is one of the first national-level economic development zones in China. Geographically, the Guangzhou Development Zone is located within the Huangpu District.
As reported by Caixin, Zhou Yawei retired in early 2024 before being taken away for investigation in early July. The issues he is involved in mainly occurred during his tenure in the Huangpu District from January 2017 to August 2021. Prior to Zhou Yawei’s trouble, Hong Hansong, former Chairman of the Guangzhou Science City (Guangzhou) Investment Group Co., Ltd., had been removed from office.
Science City is a city investment company under the Huangpu District. Currently, the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone Administration Committee holds a 94.28% stake in Science City, with the Guangdong Provincial Department of Finance holding the remaining 5.72%.
Caixin reported that Zhou Yawei had close ties with several well-known private enterprises, including the “Baoneng Group” controlled by Chaoshan businessman Yao Zhenhua. Soon after Zhou Yawei took office in the Huangpu District in early 2017, the Guangzhou Development Zone signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the “Baoneng Group.” Subsequently, the “Baoneng Group” acquired a large area of industrial land in the Guangzhou Development Zone, obtained commercial land to build office buildings, and secured several redevelopment projects.
Furthermore, in February 2017, the Guangzhou Development Zone also signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Cedar Holdings, relocating the Cedar Holdings office from Zhujiang New Town back to the Huangpu District. In April of the same year, Cedar Holdings acquired a commercial land in the Huangpu District for the construction of its headquarters building. At that time, Cedar Holdings was seen as a representative of rapid development among private enterprises in Guangzhou.
“The ‘tear down and build’ approach is most capable of driving GDP growth.” Starting from the second half of 2018, Zhou Yawei vigorously promoted urban village renovations. However, with the decline in the real estate market, many real estate companies were unable to continue the redevelopment projects starting from the second half of 2021, even unable to afford the relocation fees. The local government coordinated with local city investment enterprises to take over many projects, with Science City being a major player.
Throughout Zhou Yawei’s tenure, the assets of Science City under Hong Hansong from 2016 to 2023 rapidly increased from 2.44 billion yuan to 147.119 billion yuan, and the total liabilities soared from 555 million yuan to 113.899 billion yuan during the same period. The debt-to-equity ratio rose from 22.75% to 77.42%.
On May 7, 2024, Hong Hansong stepped down as the Chairman of Science City. According to Caixin, Hong Hansong was taken away for investigation in early July. In the past 20 days, several retired or in-service officials in the Guangzhou Development Zone have been involved in the case and requested to assist with the investigation.
Two enterprises closely associated with Zhou Yawei, the “Baoneng Group” and Cedar Holdings, experienced financial difficulties in the second half of 2021 and early 2022, respectively.
Independent commentator Cai Shenkun analyzed on X on July 27th that Zhou Yawei once supported well-known private enterprises, the most famous being Cedar Holdings, known as the number one private enterprise in Guangzhou and a Fortune Global 500 company. More than 20 billion yuan in capital was provided to them by state-owned enterprises through the Development Zone. Additionally, during Zhou Yawei’s tenure, the Guangzhou Development Zone made a strategic investment of 12 billion yuan in Baoneng New Energy Vehicles, resulting in over 20 billion yuan in losses from the cooperation with Baoneng. However, significant investments were not solely decisions made by Zhou Yawei; multiple leaders, including the current Politburo member Ma Xingrui and Politburo Standing Committee member Li Xi, were involved.
Cai Shenkun stated that during the Chinese New Year in 1993, when Zhou Yawei was working at the Hainan Zhongdao Group, he hosted Zhang Chunxian, Vice General Manager of Zhongbao Company, who was visiting Hainan for leisure. Zhou Yawei was eloquent and clever, gaining the favor of Zhang Chunxian. After returning to Beijing, Zhang Chunxian was promoted to General Manager of the China Packaging and Food Machinery Corporation and appointed Zhou Yawei as the Deputy General Manager of the Hainan Branch in October of the same year.
Following Zhang Chunxian’s career advancement, which included serving as Deputy Minister and Minister of the Ministry of Transportation, Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, and member of the Politburo, Zhou Yawei also followed suit. He moved to Guangzhou in October 2004, and his career progressed smoothly. Zhang Chunxian gradually transitioned to a secondary position, becoming the Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress in March 2018, while Zhou Yawei was removed as the Secretary of the Huangpu District Committee in August 2021, subsequently transferring to the Guangzhou Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Zhang Chunxian retired in March of the previous year.