The official working group leaked to employees why Chen Feng was arrested
[Epoch Times September 28, 2021](Hong Kong Epoch Times reporter Dongfang Hao comprehensive report) On September 24, 2021, Hainan Airlines Chairman Chen Feng and Chief Executive Officer Tan Xiangdong were officially notified to “take compulsory measures for suspected illegal crimes.” “. Before Chen Feng’s accident, he had not appeared in public for 17 months. On the same day, Gu Gang, the head of the HNA working group, issued a letter to all employees, implying that Chen Feng had multiple guilt; the mainland Caixin Network News immediately issued a document disclosing the nepotism transactions of the families of HNA executives Chen Feng and Wang Jian.
Chen Feng “disappeared” 17 months later arrested
HNA Group did not give detailed information on the specific reasons why the two executives were “taken compulsory measures.”
Information on the official website of HNA Group shows that Chen Feng is the founder of HNA Group and is currently the chairman of HNA Group Co., Ltd.
Tan Xiangdong has served as a director of the HNA Group Board of Directors since 2001, and served as the Vice Chairman and President of the HNA Group Board of Directors from 2013 to 2016. From 2016 to 2020, he served as Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Board of Directors of HNA Group. Since 2020, he has served as a director and chief executive officer of the HNA Group.
Sino-Singapore Jingwei checked the official website of HNA Group and public reports and found that it has been one and a half years since Chen Feng’s last public appearance. On April 22, 2020, the WeChat official account of HNA Group showed that from March 29 to April 21, 2020, Chen Feng, the chairman of HNA Group, went to various places to investigate aviation safety production. After that, HNA never released any news about Chen Feng.
During the “May 1st” period in 2020, when HNA’s 27th anniversary was established, Chen Feng still did not appear. Instead, Gu Gang, the executive chairman of HNA Group, and Ren Qinghua, the co-CEO of the group, came to express gratitude to all employees and celebrate HNA 27th birthday.
Before April 2020, Chen Feng’s work schedule is tight: the annual work meeting will be held in Haikou HNA Building on January 12; the special meeting on epidemic prevention and control will be held on January 30, and he will be the leading group of prevention, control and safety work. In February and March, he frequently went to airport bases and other first-line places to learn about the epidemic prevention situation, coordinate the transportation of medical supplies and investigate the recovery of operation and production. The itinerary activities in 2019 are arranged from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
In August 2021, regarding whether Chen Feng was still in Hainan and when was the last time he appeared within the group, Sino-Singapore Jingwei called the brand department of HNA Group. If there is new information from Bian, we will announce it again.” The Hainan Provincial SASAC Enterprise Leaders and Distribution Management Office replied to Zhongxin Jingwei, “I don’t know, I don’t know.”
Letter from Gu Gang, the leader of the working group, to all employees of HNA
HNA Group officially announced that after HNA Chairman Chen Feng and CEO Tan Xiangdong were taken by the police to take coercive measures, on September 24, HNA work team leader Gu Gang held a HNA Group cadre meeting and issued a letter to all 100,000 employees.
Gu Gang said in the letter that HNA Group used to be a model for the development of private enterprises for 28 years. During this period, it experienced many twists and turns and encountered many crises. “During ups and downs and encountering crises, I have received support from all walks of life many times, and have always turned dangers into peace. When we are through difficulties and get rid of crises, many people have lost their original aspirations and forgot their mission…until when ambition and desire send the group away. When entering the abyss, when encountering a greater crisis again, neither can we soberly understand ourselves, nor grasp the opportunity, nor the courage to speak the truth, nor the courage to give and take responsibility. Until the hope of hundreds of thousands of families, The trust of tens of thousands of institutions was destroyed once, and even hundreds of billions of yuan of huge losses were caused to the country. At this time, many things are really doomed.”
Gu Gang also said in the letter, “Although HNA has not changed for the time being, HNA is no longer the’home world‘ company in the past.” “This is the last moment when we are about to exit the tunnel, and it is also the most dangerous moment. “There are still six days left. We have to face the final exam. In the past, HNA has caused losses to too many organizations and individuals. The upcoming bankruptcy and reorganization of the second debt will be a difficult decision for everyone, but it is also a legal market. The best option you can have in the worst-case scenario in chemistry.”
The mainland portal Netease published an article “One Book Finance” at about 11:30 on September 24, “The reason for the arrest of Hainan Airlines Chen Feng, the work team leader Gu Gang may give a glimpse of the letter to the staff.” The article stated that it is not difficult to see from Gu Gang’s letter that Chen Feng should conceal the facts and shirk responsibility at the critical moment of HNA’s reorganization, in an attempt to dump the burden and losses on the country. Although the effect of the current reorganization is expected, the local government and the country have paid a huge “price” for this.
The article also stated that at present, there are still several private enterprise groups that are alleviating difficulties, such as Evergrande Group. Under the real estate control policies, they are expanding against the trend, and they have become big but not collapsed, and are trying their best to bail out. The Chen Feng incident is undoubtedly a wake-up call.
Caixin.com reveals nepotism transactions in HNA’s executive family
At about 8 pm on September 24, 2021, the mainland Caixin website published a special article “Neony Transactions of HNA Executive Family”. The annual reports of listed companies, industrial and commercial documents and other documents consulted by Caixin reporters, as well as the testimony of a number of current and former HNA executives when interviewed by Caixin, proved that the chairman of HNA Group Chen Feng, the late former chairman Wang Jian, etc. HNA executives, companies that all have relatives controlled or participated in undertook a large number of HNA businesses and purchases, and obtained HNA financial support and commercial contracts, covering HNA’s aircraft and aviation material procurement, real estate development, information engineering, advertising, insurance, etc. business. Some of these related-party transactions between HNA Group and the company’s executives began as early as 2000, and some extended to HNA’s overseas mergers and acquisitions, and none of them were fully disclosed.
The article disclosed that in June 1991, 35-year-old Chen Guoqing established Hainan American Co. (Hainan American Co., referred to as HAC, hereinafter referred to as Hainan America) in the United States. At that time, Chen Guoqing’s brother Chen Feng was still working hard in Hainan. The Hainan Provincial Airlines, where Chen Feng was the vice president, was located in the corner of the world and did not yet own an aircraft.
The article stated that Chen Guoqing and the HNA Department have a complicated and unique mixed-race relationship, whether it is his senior executives, equity investment or business. HNA’s endorsement is of utmost importance on Chen Guoqing’s road to gaining a title in the social world. Chen Guoqing successively served as the Vice President of the Council of the China-US General Chamber of Commerce. The President and Vice President of the Association include the North American heads of financial institutions such as Bank of China, Bank of Communications, and China Construction Bank; in 2017, he was the Ivy League of the United States. Chen Guoqing, a parent of a student of the prestigious Brown University, joins the Brown University board of directors. The resume here shows that Chen Guoqing and his brother Chen Feng co-founded HNA in 1993. He is not only the head of HNA North America, but also the vice chairman of the HNA Foundation.
The article disclosed that HNA’s aviation material procurement business is not exclusive to the Chen Feng family. Wang Jian’s younger brother Wang Wei also has a lot of intervention. HNA has paid a large amount of agency fees and handling fees to the crony companies of the two HNA co-founders, and Provide financial support to them in the form of accounts receivable, advance payment, and deposit. Hainan Jianheng Industrial Investment Co., Ltd. controlled by Wang Wei has a wide range of tentacles, one of which is real estate investment. From the perspective of Jianheng’s foreign investment, Wang Wei’s business covers golf, cigars, property management, handicrafts, tropical botanical gardens, cultural communication, aviation import and export, logistics, finance, etc. Many companies have business dealings with HNA.
Current political commentator Li Yanming analyzed that Hainan’s chairman Chen Feng, who had “disappeared” for 17 months, was arrested after his equity was cleared. This shows that HNA’s bankruptcy reorganization and crisis management have reached the stage of closing the net. Gu Gang, head of the HNA working group, wrote to employees directly referring to HNA’s “home world”, implying that Chen Feng has multiple guilt; Caixin, with an unusual political background, immediately published a special article, revealing in depth the family of HNA executives Chen Feng and Wang Jian The nepotism deal is clearly prepared. With the arrest of Chen Feng and Tan Xiangdong as a sign, Xi Jinping’s cleaning of HNA executives and their families may have just begun.
Chen Feng’s equity was cleared
The Caixin.com article also disclosed a detail. Not long ago, the joint working group dispatched by Hainan Province to HNA Group had hoped that Chen Feng would dispose of the assets of the Hainan Province Cihang Charity Foundation to repay the personal claims on these wealth management products. It was urgent, but Chen Feng refused. Public information shows that the foundation’s net assets are 1 billion yuan.
In 2021, HNA Group will start bankruptcy and reorganization. One of the most difficult problems in the whole process is the repayment of personal financial products after the explosion of HNA’s P2P platform. The scale of claims for wealth management products on platforms such as Jubaohui under HNA exceeds 30 billion yuan, involving as many as 60,000 people, of which about 23,000 are internal employees of the “HNA Department”. How to dispose of these personal wealth management products fairly and properly is a major barrier that has blocked the reorganization of HNA Group in the past few months.
HNA Group was established in 2000. Its businesses include aviation, tourism, real estate, industry, finance, logistics, and technology. It is a super-large multinational enterprise. The HNA Group, known as the pillar of Hainan, began aggressive mergers and acquisitions overseas in 2013. As of the second quarter of 2019, HNA Group’s total liabilities reached RMB 706.7 billion, with a debt-to-asset ratio of 72%. In February 2020, HNA was taken over by the government.
On January 29, 2021, HNA Group issued a statement stating that it had received the “Notice” issued by the Hainan Provincial Higher Court. The relevant creditors applied to the court for bankruptcy and reorganization of HNA Group due to HNA’s inability to pay off due debts. The statement stated that the group will cooperate with the court to conduct judicial review and promote debt disposal to ensure the smooth progress of the company’s production and operation.
In mid-March 2021, the Hainan Provincial High Court announced that it had ruled that 321 companies including HNA Group should be merged and reorganized, and the HNA Group manager was appointed as the manager of the 321 companies’ substantive merger and reorganization case.
On September 18, 2021, HNA Group’s official WeChat account disclosed that Hainan’s HNA Group’s joint working group leader and HNA Group’s party committee secretary Gu Gang stated at the regular meeting of HNA’s safety production and operation that after the reorganization is completed, HNA will be split into four complete units. Independently operated sectors-aviation sector, airport sector, financial sector, commercial and other sectors, each led by a new actual controller shareholder.
Gu Gang also revealed to thousands of employees that after the reorganization, the old shareholder team and the Cihang Foundation’s rights and interests in the HNA Group and member companies will be cleared, and they will no longer own the relevant equity.
According to the shareholding structure previously disclosed by HNA Group, HNA Group is indirectly owned by Hainan Cihang Charity Foundation, Hainan Cihang Charity Foundation Inc., 12 natural persons and Hainan Airlines Holding Co., Ltd. Among them, Cihang Foundation and Cihang Foundation, both domestic and foreign, own more than 50% of the shares of HNA Group, 12 natural person shareholders hold 47.5% of the shares, and Hainan Airlines Holding Co., Ltd. holds 0.25%. The 12 natural-person shareholders are all founders and senior executives of HNA Group. Among them, Chen Feng and Wang Jian each hold 14.98% of the shares and are the largest natural-person shareholders.
The equity of the old shareholder team will be cleared in accordance with the law. This also means that the founding team such as Chen Feng will officially withdraw from the HNA Group and its thousands of HNA companies from a legal point of view. At the same time, the relationship between the Cihang Foundation and HNA will be thorough. Be cut.
Editor in charge: Lian Shuhua#
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