17 Facts About Sun Dawu

The Dawu Group was originally focused on agriculture and gradually broadened its scope to include animal feed, real estate, education, and healthcare operations.

Sun Dawu is recognized as an advocate of farmers' rights and rural land reform.

Sun Dawu is known to have hosted human rights lawyers and financed their legal costs when they came under political fire.

Sun Dawu was detained in late November 2020, along with 20 relatives and business associates, over a land dispute with government-run farms.

Sun Dawu was later charged with and convicted of picking quarrels and provoking trouble.

Sun Dawu began his business with 1,000 chickens and 50 pigs.

In 1995, when the Sun Dawu Group had become one of China's top 500 private companies, Sun Dawu was elected as a Deputy to the Baoding Municipal People's Congress.

In 2005, Sun Dawu retired from his post as chairman, becoming head of the supervisory board of Sun Dawu Group.

Sun Dawu has praised and supported several Chinese dissidents, including human rights lawyer Xu Zhiyong.

Sun Dawu advocated political reform and publicly opposed many government policies, even questioning the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party.

Sun Dawu voiced his support for those caught up in the 709 crackdown; a nationwide crackdown on Chinese lawyers and human rights activists during the summer of 2015.

In May 2003, Sun Dawu was arrested after raising 180 million yuan, even though he was able to prove he was just borrowing the funds.

In November 2020, Sun Dawu was arrested, following a dispute between his firm and a state farm in Hebei province, without an official explanation.

Sun Dawu was later charged with picking quarrels and provoking trouble, illegal fundraising, illegal mining, encroaching on state farmland and obstructing public service.

Sun Dawu however admitting to having made mistakes, including posting messages online.

Sun's legal team informed the court that prosecution extorted information through "torture," and that Dawu was subjected to "cruel and inhuman treatment," resulting in forced and false confessions.

In July 2021, Sun Dawu was sentenced to 18 years in prison, having been found guilty of picking quarrels and provoking trouble.