Dharamshala, 28th September: According to a media report, China is intensifying its crackdown on the country’s top corporate heavyweights, having recently arrested two executives from the famed HNA Group. According to the New York Post, Chen Feng, HNA’s chairman, and Tan Xiangdong, the company’s CEO, were arrested and brought into jail on Friday in Hainan Province, where HNA is located, for suspected offenses. After amassing over $90 billion in debt, HNA Group, an insolvent corporation, collapsed earlier this year. The charges against the executives have not been made public yet.
According to the New York Post, Chinese officials filed for bankruptcy against HNA in January this year, and within days, HNA subsidiaries stated billions of dollars in funds had been misappropriated. HNA Group began its operations with Hainan Airlines and grew rapidly in the 2010s. It had purchased significant shares in worldwide corporations such as Hilton Hotels, TIP Trailer Services, and Deutsche Bank. The top executive’s detention occurred at a time when Beijing is attempting to deal with domestic debt-reliant enterprises such as property developer Evergrande Group without causing panic in the country’s credit markets.