Society

The scandal surrounding Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff that is bankrupting hundreds of investors worldwide, even causing some to commit suicide, has also alarmed many rich Chinese who once believed everything that glitters in international marketplaces is gold.

Rich clients, scared by global market risks, may turn to local options, potentially boosting business for Chinese private banking services, said analysts.

The only known Chinese victim caught in the Madoff scandal so far is Tang Jun, the former Microsoft China CEO. Tang consigned his investments abroad to four foreign professional financial companies who, in turn, entrusted large parts of their portfolios to Madoff. Tang said in December he lost $2.76 million in the scandal.

Tang estimated over 30,000 Chinese millionaires use offshore financial companies to manage their wealth and that the number doing so has grown at 20 percent annually for the last several years.

"I learned not to blindly worship professional financiers and I learned I should focus private investment in China instead of overseas. My investment returns in China have remained over 30 percent annually since 2003," he said in an earlier TV interview. He added that he has decided to turn to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and other Chinese private banks for wealth management.

Scandals in overseas markets could tarnish the image of international financial services and help Chinese banks cultivate more high-end customers, said Tjun Tang, managing director with the China financial services practice of Boston Consulting Group (BCG),

"Wealth markets in China continue to rise and the global financial crisis is unlikely to end this trend. The crisis may prove more an opportunity than a peril for Chinese banks," he said.

Zhang Yue, an ICBC marketing director, said a large number of Chinese millionaires have consulted his team for private banking service over the past few months, especially since October 2008.

China's wealth management business has huge potential. The number of millionaires in US dollar terms in China reached 391,000 by Sep 2008 and grew 22 percent year-on-year for the past five years, according a BCG report. Only the US, Japan, United Kingdom and Germany have more millionaires than China. BCG also estimates the number of Chinese millionaires could reach 858,000 by 2012.

David Leung, CEO with the wealth management department of Standard Chartered Bank (China) Ltd, said Chinese demand for professional wealth management service will increase amid financial woes.

"Chinese millionaires are used to making investment decisions largely on their own and traditionally favor investing in real estate and equity markets. Their investment habit will likely to change over time, particularly with the recent stock market turbulence and sluggish property market," said Leung.

Tang Jun, the former Microsoft China boss who got burned in the Madoff scandal, agrees. "The value of the US stock market shrank over 42 percent last year, but only 30 percent of my investments suffered a loss. That's the difference between professional wealth management and individual investment."

Prosecutors accused the 70-year-old Madoff of operating a massive pyramid scheme illegally using money from new investors to pay previous ones. US officials say the fraud may have cost investors $50 billion.

Holding a bunch of roses and a birthday cake, a Wuhan man has been waiting for his girlfriend outside a shopping mall for eight days.

Chen Bihua, 25, showed up on Valentine's Day and just waits. Except for meals, Chen has done nothing but stared at passing cars.

Policemen have asked him to leave but he refused.

He said he had an argument with his girlfriend and he tried to see her by sending her text messages but she has not replied.

"It is mainly my fault to have quarreled with her. I just want a chance to explain," Chen said.

Authorities in Yunnan province are hoping two of the country's most popular bloggers can help them unravel the mystery of a man who died in police custody.

Zhao Li, who writes a blog under the name Fengzhimoduan, and Dong Rubin, better known as Bianmin, were named director and deputy director of an investigation committee that was sent to Jinning county, Yunnan province on Friday to probe the suspicious death.

The pair is part of a 15-member team that includes six other members of the public (three of whom were chosen in an online lottery), three reporters, four public security officials and prosecutors. It is hoped the crew can find out what really happened to Li Qiaoming, 24, who police said died after playing hide-and-seek.

Li, from Yuxi, was detained in Jinning on Jan 30 for felling trees without authorization. On Feb 8 he was admitted to hospital, where he died four days later from brain damage.

The Jinning public security bureau said Friday that Li was fatally injured while playing hide-and-seek with other inmates, one of whom supposedly reacted angrily when his hiding place was uncovered by Li.

News of Li's death, and the fact he had been playing hide- and-seek while in jail, sparked much debate in the country's online community.

One unnamed person wrote on a website: "I thought maybe he had committed suicide, but I'd never have guessed he died playing hide-and-seek!"

The amateur sleuths began their "truth-finding" mission at the Jinning detention house on Friday, where they spoke with officials from the Jinning government, public security bureau and prosecutor's office.

At about 1 pm, they visited the cell Li had occupied, and studied documents relating to his death. At 2:40 pm, they held a news briefing at the Sanhe Grand Hotel to discuss their findings.

"We're satisfied with the attitude of the police toward our investigation," Zhao said. "We're not professional investigators but we're doing our best."

More than ten gangsters attacked this supermarket with machetes and long sticks before 17:00 in the afternoon, 22nd of February.

It's not a clip of violent movie, but the real issue taped by camera in Xi'an, the largest city in central China.

Mr. Lee is the owner of this supermarket. He got a call from his staff telling him about what was happening. When he reached his shop around 6o'clock, everything was in mass and destroyed.

It seems like they only want to make damages, they let consumers and staffs go freely.

Lee said he had good relations with neighbors, but days ago, several strangers came to ask about whether he can sell this shop to them, he refused them right away, two days later, the gate of his shop was painted in red. 

He insists this is not the last step in those gangsters' plan.