China Detains Executive Close to Family of Former Prime Minister
Duan Weihong, 49, who set up companies with relatives of Wen Jiabao, China’s prime minister from 2003-13, was detained before a Communist Party congress last year, according to three friends
and business associates who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals by the authorities.
Ms. Duan, also known as Whitney Duan, was a central figure in a 2012 investigation by The New York Times
that showed Mr. Wen’s relatives controlled assets worth at least $2.7 billion.
"So I had my relatives find some other people to hold these shares for me." In 2003, after Beijing was awarded the 2008 Summer Games, Ms. Duan set up two companies
that acquired large plots of land near the airport, one as a joint venture with the airport authority and the local government.
Ms. Duan also helped several of Mr. Wen’s relatives, including his mother,
and their associates acquire an early stake in Ping An, one of the country’s biggest financial services firms, before its domestic public stock offering in 2007.
According to corporate records, she set up a series of companies with Mr. Wen’s mother, brother
and daughter; one of her investment firms also invested in companies alongside New Horizon Capital, a private equity firm run by Mr. Wen’s son, Wen Yunsong.
Ms. Duan, who has also developed resorts with Adrian Zecha, the founder of the luxury hotel group Aman Resorts, has maintained
a low profile in China in recent years, spending much of her time overseas, according to several of her associates.