Spotlight falls on network's charity
By Wang Qingchu |
November 29, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE World Eminent Chinese Business Association, whose highest-profile charity project has been heavily criticized over high management costs, has been accused of profiting from expensive membership charges.
The Hong Kong-registered limited company, founded by prominent philanthropist Lu Junqing, claims its members include business tycoons and public figures. It recruits members by promising them access to elites and helping to expand their business networks, according to China Central Television.
Annual membership fees range from 3,900 yuan (US$611) to 39,900 yuan. The association also organizes conferences and celebrations, charging many thousands of yuan from members seeking to attend, CCTV said.
A manager, surnamed Sun, of a medium-sized real estate company in Shandong Province paid 11,700 yuan for a three-year entry-level membership last July, he told CCTV.
The following week, he paid another 50,000 yuan to be a premium guest at a banquet organized by the association.
At the banquet, Sun was told the chairman, Lu, would be a consultant to his company for three years at a cost of 1 million yuan, the report said. Sun made a 300,000 yuan downpayment but subsequently never met Lu or heard from him.
When Sun asked the association about the consultancy he paid for, he was told he was "blacklisted."
No explanation was given, CCTV said.
On various occasions Lu has claimed his association supports charity, but none of the charity projects initiated by the association gives details of those who have benefited, the report said.
The charity projects are operated by Tianjiurushang Investment Group, owned by Li Hailing, Lu's wife.
Internet users have raised doubts about the financing and management of its highest-profile program, China-Africa Project Hope, which aims to raise 2 billion yuan to build 1,000 schools in poor parts of Africa over the next 10 years. The project is led by Lu Xingyu, Lu Junqing's 24-year-old daughter.
Tianjiurushang Investment takes 10 percent of donations in management fees.
The Hong Kong-registered limited company, founded by prominent philanthropist Lu Junqing, claims its members include business tycoons and public figures. It recruits members by promising them access to elites and helping to expand their business networks, according to China Central Television.
Annual membership fees range from 3,900 yuan (US$611) to 39,900 yuan. The association also organizes conferences and celebrations, charging many thousands of yuan from members seeking to attend, CCTV said.
A manager, surnamed Sun, of a medium-sized real estate company in Shandong Province paid 11,700 yuan for a three-year entry-level membership last July, he told CCTV.
The following week, he paid another 50,000 yuan to be a premium guest at a banquet organized by the association.
At the banquet, Sun was told the chairman, Lu, would be a consultant to his company for three years at a cost of 1 million yuan, the report said. Sun made a 300,000 yuan downpayment but subsequently never met Lu or heard from him.
When Sun asked the association about the consultancy he paid for, he was told he was "blacklisted."
No explanation was given, CCTV said.
On various occasions Lu has claimed his association supports charity, but none of the charity projects initiated by the association gives details of those who have benefited, the report said.
The charity projects are operated by Tianjiurushang Investment Group, owned by Li Hailing, Lu's wife.
Internet users have raised doubts about the financing and management of its highest-profile program, China-Africa Project Hope, which aims to raise 2 billion yuan to build 1,000 schools in poor parts of Africa over the next 10 years. The project is led by Lu Xingyu, Lu Junqing's 24-year-old daughter.
Tianjiurushang Investment takes 10 percent of donations in management fees.
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