Chinese authorities are investigating the financier son of Liu He, a former vice-premier and confidant of Xi Jinping who negotiated a trade deal with the first Trump administration, according to people familiar with the probe, Report informs via Financial Times.
Seven people familiar with the investigation said Liu Tianran, whose father served as China’s economic tsar, was under investigation. Two people said the probe was related to suspected financial-related corruption. One of the many “princeling” children of top party officials, Liu founded an investment firm called Skycus Capital in 2016 and served as its inaugural chair. The Financial Times previously confirmed that he is Liu He’s son.
One former colleague of Liu Tianran said he had been “under investigation for a while” and “might have lost his freedom”, meaning he may have been arrested. A second person said he had already been detained. Two other people said he had been investigated for at least six months.
One of the people who said the probe was over suspected corruption said Chinese authorities had first looked into Liu Tianran in connection with the planned $37bn initial public offering of Ant Group, which was set to become the world’s biggest IPO until Beijing stopped it from going ahead. During the probe, authorities found unrelated cases of corruption, according to the person who added that Xi, China’s president, had been given a report on the claims.
The probe comes as Xi has cracked down on the Chinese finance industry, including cutting pay for bankers and scrutinizing the fundraising and dealmaking of many top funds. Some high-profile Chinese venture investors have been questioned, and even detained, over their fundraising, including Chen Datong, a top semiconductor investor. “If true, Liu’s case would be consistent with a new form of investigation Xi authorized in recent years,” said Christopher Johnson, a former top CIA China analyst who now heads China Strategies Group, a risk consultancy.
“These investigations, which focus on illicit gains by associates of senior Chinese leaders, put their targets in a sort of no man’s land between a clean slate and formal detention,” he added. “In general, these officials can avoid arrest if they return their ill-gotten gains to the state, but the scale of Liu’s alleged wrongdoings may test the limits of that arrangement.”
Dennis Wilder, former head of China analysis at the CIA, said the probe suggested Liu He might face problems. Liu regularly met foreigners after retiring in 2023, including with then-Treasury secretary Janet Yellen in April 2024. But his meetings have been severely curtailed over the past year.
“Liu has been on a very tight leash,” said one person familiar with the situation, who added that some people who were aware of the investigation into his son had assumed that his low profile was related to the probe. Wilder added that Liu appeared to have fallen out with Xi, a childhood acquaintance.