Lai Changxing
| Lai Changxing | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 15, 1958 Jinjiang, Fujian, China |
| Citizenship | People's Republic of China |
| Occupation | Businessman, smuggler |
| Spouse(s) | Zeng Mingna (divorced) |
| Children | 3 |
| Lai Changxing | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 賴昌星 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 赖昌星 | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Lài Chāngxīng |
| Southern Min | |
| Hokkien POJ | Lōa Chhiong-seng |
Lai Changxing (born September 15, 1958) is a former Chinese businessman and entrepreneur. He was the founder and Chairman of Yuanhua Group, based in the Special Economic Zone of Xiamen. He imported foreign products like cars, cigarettes and was responsible for one-sixth of the national oil imports at one time. In the late 1990s he was implicated in corruption scandals involving a large smuggling ring. By 1999 he was described by several media organizations as "China's most wanted fugitive".
Lai evaded Chinese authorities and went to Canada, where he resided in Vancouver. After a lengthy extradition battle and diplomatic negotiations Canadian authorities deported him to China on July 22, 2011 upon promises that he would not be executed. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012.
Despite his massive empire of wealth, Lai often smuggled goods into China and broke numerous trade laws. He has also been referred as "the one who destroys lives" and "the corrupted smuggler".
Lai was the eldest child born to Lai Yongdeng and Wang Zhuzhi in Jinjiang, Fujian province in 1958, the year the Great Leap Forward began. He was the first of eight children. He grew up in Shaocuo village (烧厝村). He nearly starved to death due to the Great Chinese Famine, but his family survived because his father converted a swamp into a personal vegetable field during the most difficult years. Lai received almost no formal education as he spent one year in school before the Cultural Revolution shut his school down. According to some sources Lai received three years of education, and that the highest level of school he attended was fourth grade.
When Lai was age 18, Mao Zedong died and private businesses began re-appearing across China under Deng Xiaoping. Lai began working at a farming machinery factory before it shut down. At age 20 Lai started a business making simple car parts. The business took off and turned into an empire. Within a decade he was the country's biggest private car importer.
In 1990 Lai tried to run a business to import duty-free TVs, where he made thousands. Two government officials from Shaocuo demanded fees be paid to them. When Lai refused, the two officials went to his house. At the time Lai was not home, but his sister was. The officials asked for business accounts, but she refused to give in. She was then beaten severely and sent to the hospital. The officials then started a tax fraud case. Lai would win in court, but his revenge campaign against Communist officials would tie up his businesses. Lai left Shaocuo and from this point on, played by the Communist party rule to bribe everyone.
...
Wikipedia