«In the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis in 1999, the head of financially troubled Ping An Insurance pushed Chinese officials to relax rules that required the company to be broken up. Insurance executives made a direct appeal to the vice premier at the time, Wen Jiabao, as well as the China’s central bank — two powerful officials with oversight of the industry.
In the end, Ping An was not broken up and went on to become one of China’s largest financial services companies, a $50 billion powerhouse. Behind the scenes, shares in Ping An that would be worth billions of dollars once the company rebounded were acquired by relatives of Mr. Wen, who became prime minister in 2003.
The New York Times reported last month that the relatives of Mr. Wen had grown extraordinarily wealthy during his leadership. The greatest source of wealth, The Times reports, came from the shares in Ping An bought about eight months after the insurer was granted a waiver to the requirement that it be broken up.»
Lobbying, a Windfall and a Leader’s Family, NYT
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