Lai Changxing was born on September 15,1958 and is a former Chinese businessman and entrepreneur.
44 Facts About Lai Changxing
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Lai Changxing was the founder and Chairman of Yuanhua Group, based in the Special Economic Zone of Xiamen.
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Lai Changxing imported foreign products like cars, cigarettes and was responsible for one-sixth of the national oil imports at one time.
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Lai Changxing has been referred as "the one who destroys lives" and "the corrupted smuggler".
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Lai Changxing was the eldest child born to Lai Changxing Yongdeng and Wang Zhuzhi in Jinjiang, Fujian province in 1958, the year the Great Leap Forward began.
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Lai Changxing would have starved to death during the Great China famine but luckily in Jinjiang and the rest of south-eastern Fujian the situation was greatly milder due to massive overseas Chinese donations and better leadership, his family survived because his father converted a swamp into a personal vegetable field during the most difficult years.
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Lai Changxing received almost no formal education as he spent one year in school before the Cultural Revolution shut his school down.
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When Lai Changxing was age 18, Mao Zedong died and private businesses began re-appearing across China under Deng Xiaoping.
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Lai Changxing began working at a farming machinery factory before it shut down.
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At age 20 Lai Changxing started a business making simple car parts.
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In 1990 Lai Changxing tried to run a business to import duty-free TVs, where he made thousands.
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When Lai Changxing refused, the two officials went to his house.
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Lai Changxing was then beaten severely and sent to the hospital.
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In 1994 Lai Changxing founded Fairwell Group, known as Yuanhua Group, a prominent group of upstart companies that took advantage of the economic boom of Xiamen's status as a Special Economic Zone.
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Lai Changxing built the 88-floor Yuanhua tower and the Yuanhua International Centre with a groundbreaking ceremony attended by 2000 guests.
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Lai Changxing had prominent connections with the Fujian power elite; he was a member of the Provincial Consultative Conference.
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Chinese authorities do not comment on allegations that Lai Changxing's Yuanhua group was a conduit for clandestine military shipments, such as Silkworm missiles.
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In 1996 Xiamen airport's terminal building 2, funded by Lai Changxing, was one of the biggest airport structures in the country.
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Lai Changxing then moved all the players to Xiamen to create the Xiamen Lanshi FC, and helped the team promote to the Chinese Super League.
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Lai Changxing even made his own film starring himself as a football star to improve his image.
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Lai Changxing built a 7-story building called the Red Mansion, named after the classical story Dream of a Red Mansion.
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Lai Changxing purportedly did take off her clothes for the money, and disappeared from public view.
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Lai Changxing blackmailed officials, through filming them with prostitutes arranged by him.
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Lai Changxing purportedly gave money to Zhu Niuniu, son of former deputy commander of China's 31st army from Xiamen.
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Zhu constantly threatened to expose Lai Changxing's smuggling if he did not help him with his financial problem from gambling at the Macau casinos.
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Lai Changxing himself was said to be an apprentice to then General secretary Jiang Zemin.
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Lai Changxing resided in Fujian province before he moved to Hong Kong in April 1991.
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Lai Changxing explained to the HK Immigration Department that he was in HK because he was a friend of Leung Kam-kwong, a senior immigration officer who later died in honor during the Immigration Tower fire in 2000.
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Lai Changxing fled to Canada with his wife Zeng Mingna and children in August 1999.
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Lai Changxing returned to the family's luxury condo in Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver, and agreed to pay $80,000 per month to live under the guard of a private security firm.
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Notwithstanding such arrangements, Lai Changxing was observed by RCMP officers associating with known members of Asian smuggling gangs in Canada.
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In 2009 Lai Changxing was granted a working permit and worked at a Vancouver real-estate company as a consultant.
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Lai Changxing denied criminal wrongdoing, and stated that the allegations were politically motivated.
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Matas has filed for an assessment of whether Lai Changxing's family are at risk if they are returned to China.
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Nevertheless, Lai Changxing has repeatedly been denied political refugee status in Canada, for example by a ruling in September 2005 by the Supreme Court in Ottawa, Ontario.
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Svend Robinson, then New Democratic Party member of parliament for Burnaby-Douglas, noted that Lai Changxing's brother died in a Fujian labour-camp after receiving a lesser sentence.
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Canadian officials acknowledged that Lai Changxing did not have access to the vast fortune they thought he had upon arrival in Canada back in 1999.
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Lai Changxing has said his legal and living expenses were being funded by friends, whom he has declined to identify, saying they could be in danger if the Chinese government knew their names.
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On July 8,2011, John Baird, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, said that, the extradition of Lai Changxing must be conducted using Canadian laws.
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Lai Changxing's corruption is known to have reached the top levels of the Chinese government.
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On July 22,2011, Lai Changxing was extradited to China.
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Lai Changxing was escorted to Vancouver International Airport and boarded Air Canada flight 29 bound for Beijing.
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Lai Changxing was later transferred to Chinese custody on July 23,2011, and signed an arrest warrant issued for his arrest upon his arrival in Beijing.
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On May 18,2012, Lai Changxing was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of smuggling and bribery by the Intermediate People's Court in Xiamen.