CRIME AND CORRUPTION

A Police HQ, Wind Farms, and Natural Gas: Mapping China’s Investments in Europe

Through an opaque network of shell companies in the British Virgin Islands and Luxembourg holding firms, an agency that manages China’s foreign reserves has discreetly scooped up stakes in Europe’s critical infrastructure, utilities, and real estate.

Key findings: 

• By piecing together fragmented European corporate registries, reporters mapped out the European assets held by an agency overseen by China’s central bank.
• They found that by routing investments through a web of Luxembourg shell companies and offshore jurisdictions, Beijing’s European footprint remains largely invisible to the general public.
• Experts warned of increasing opacity around company ownership in Europe that effectively prevents the public from knowing who controls critical infrastructure.

From a gas company in Spain to a police headquarters in Belgium, an agency directed by China’s central bank has been quietly acquiring stakes in companies and properties across Europe over the past decade.

By trawling through data from European business and land ownership registries, reporters were able to uncover a complex web of offshore Caribbean companies and Luxembourg holding firms through which this state agency holds its assets — and effectively keeps its ownership out of the public view.

While investors of any origin routinely use offshore vehicles and elaborate corporate structures for tax efficiency, the findings give a rare insight into how the authority that manages China’s foreign exchange reserves, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), makes investments in Europe.

SAFE is known for shrouding its investments and decision-making processes in secrecy, according to experts who focus on China’s foreign investments and trade.

“SAFE recently has gone to significant lengths to mask the size of its investments, so it clearly is keen to stay out of the limelight,” said Brad Setser, a fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations focused on China and ex-deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury.