A Key Figure Behind She Zhijiang，the detained tycoon of Cyber Fraud hubs

By Roxanne Wang | Spring Studio

The leader of Yatai International Holdings Group ("Yatai IHG"), which is highly associated with fraud cases in Southeast Asia, She Zhijiang, was arrested and imprisoned several years ago, but the story in Shwe Kokko continues.

According to recent media reports, Yatai New City built by  Yatai IHG is operating normally, managed by She Zhijiang's disciple and another prison mate, and gambling and fraud businesses still exist within there. The rescue of Chinese actor Wang Xing after being abducted to a Myanmar cyber fraud hub has once again brought keywords such as "KK Park" and "human trafficking" to the top of the search trends.

She Zhijiang, also known as She Lunkai in Mandarin, with the alias Tang Lunkai, has also used the English names Dylan She or Kriang Kai Tang, She Lunkai, and Dylan Jiang.

Originally from Shaodong, Hunan, China, She Zhijiang changed his nationality to Cambodia in 2017. He has been operating  Yatai New City as the chairman of the board of Asia IHG, which has been accused of engaging in gray industries such as human trafficking, telecom fraud, and online gambling. She is also alleged to have run illegal gambling operations in China in his early years and was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, by Thai law enforcement agencies on August 10, 2022, based on an Interpol Red Notice, awaiting extradition back to China.

Unlike She Zhijiang, who has attracted widespread international attention, his partner in Yatai IHG, Zhong Baojia， who is claimed to be a Hainan overseas Chinese with numerous "chamber of commerce" titles, appears to be quite "low-key." Spring Studio noted that until the end of 2024, Zhong remained active in various social activities and traveled to the UAE to inspect investment projects.

Zhong Baojia, also known as "Zhong Baojia"（This name uses different Chinese characters that share the same pronunciation in Mandarin）or "Wang Qiang," claims to be "the first private airport investor in China." He invested in real estate and airport projects in Hainan, Fujian, and other places in his early years and has been active in Hong Kong, China, and Southeast Asia for many years as the vice president of the China Federation of Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs（CFOCE）.

According to some press releases,  Yatai IHG was jointly established by She Zhijiang and Zhong Baojia. After their cooperation, She Zhijiang started to join organizations such as the CFOCE, where Zhong Baojia plays a key role.

Various phenomena indicate that Zhong Baojia has a high level of involvement in the business of Yatai IHG. He is not only responsible for preliminary project inspections and construction but also investment promotion and the application for Casino licenses in Thailand. In addition, some business records show that another important figure in  Yatai IHG is also more closely related to Zhong Baojia, rather than She. Ma Dongli, the CEO of Yatai IHG, operates the company's Beijing office with Zhong Baojia and jointly holds a Hong Kong company with him.

For a long time, Yatai IHG has promised a $15 billion investment in Karen State, Myanmar. However, She Zhijiang, who made his fortune from online gambling, is accused of illegal gains of 150 million yuan, which is insufficient compared to the astronomical figures he promised to invest.

Are there any other investors besides She Zhijiang?

A key partner

One of She Zhijiang's early significant public appearances was at the 14th World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention in September 2017. Using the name "Tang Lunkai" and as the Chairman of the Board of Yatai IHG, he signed an investment agreement for the Shwe Kokko Special Economic Zone with General Saw Chit Thu of the Karen State Government in Myanmar, among others.

She Zhijiang was the one signing on the stage. But according to the President of  CFOCE at the convention, this project was indentified through an inspection spearheaded by Zhong Baojia as the representative of CFOCE, and it was subsequently sighed and unveiled on such a significant platform.

The President mentioned that on the eve of the convention, CFOCE specifically sent a delegation headed by Vice President Zhong Baojia to visit Myanmar in advance. They met with relevant departments and the Karen State Government of Myanmar and conducted on-site inspections of investment and cooperation projects in Myanmar.

Some press releases indicate that Yatai IHG was actually jointly established by Zhong Baojia and She Zhijiang, with She Zhijiang serving as the Chairman of the Board and Zhong Baojia as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

（Screenshot from an article promoting the investment project of Shwe Kokko Special Economic Zone in Myanmar in 2017, which stated that Yatai IHG was jointly established by She and Zhong）

（Screenshot of a document released by Thai PBS, Thailand's public television station）

In a plethora of promotional images, Zhong Baojia is often seen standing alongside She Zhijiang at the center of the group, commanding the central position。

（Yatai IHG’s donation event, She Zhijiang on the left, Zhong Baojia on the right.The picture comes from the official statement issued by Yatai IHG after She was arrested）

She Zhijiang subsequently joined a multitude of associations and organizations, acquiring numerous titles to gild his reputation, some of which overlapped with organizations where Zhong Baojia was also a member. Judging from the timeline of their entries into these organizations, Zhong Baojia was perhaps She’s guide.

Zhong Baojia was elected as the Vice President of the China Federation of Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs as early as 2012 and has been active in the organization for a long time. She Zhijiang, after initiating the Yatai project, was elected as the Executive Vice President of CFOCE, under the name "She Lunkai" in December 2017.

Additionally, it was reported that She Zhijiang was appointed as a researcher at the Maritime Silk Road Research Institute of Hainan Normal University in 2019. The veteran Zhong Baojia had already donated a Confucius bronze statue to Hainan Normal University in 2011, signing the donation agreement on-site with Lin Qiang, the Vice President of Hainan Normal University, and subsequently becoming a university affairs consultant for Hainan Normal University.

Moreover, a so-called chamber of commerce organization was actually founded by Zhong Baojia himself.

She Zhijiang claimed to be the chairman of the China-ASEAN Economic Corridor Promotion Association, but this organization was actually a company established by Zhong Baojia in Hong Kong. Information shows that the company is jointly held by Zhong Baojia, Ma Dongli, and Ding Haicheng.

Spring Studio discovered that both Ma Dongli and Ding Haicheng have intersections with Zhong Baojia in different companies, indicating a close relationship.

Yatai IHG was registered and established in Hong Kong, China, with its headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand. From the current equity perspective, Zhong Baojia does not hold shares in Yatai IHG's Thai company or Hong Kong company, but his presence is often seen in other companies related to Yatai IHG.

Another position held by Zhong Baojia is the Chairman of Yatai Industrial Real Estate Company. This may refer to a company registered in 2018, originally named "All-Territory International Holdings Limited," which was renamed "Myanmar Karen State Asia Pacific Industrial Real Estate Limited." in 2020. Information shows that this company has been wholly owned by Ding Haicheng for many years.

Yatai Wisdom Development (Beijing) Technology and Trade Co., Ltd., registered in Beijing, has its Weibo verified as "Yatai Wisdom" and uses the "Yatai International Holdings Group" logo as its avatar. In the historical shareholder list of this company, Zhong Baojia, and Ma Dongli, among others, appear.

Ma Dongli and Ding Haicheng are from Hainan and Fujian respectively, which coincidentally both are Zhong Baojia's early strongholds.

Zhong Baojia describes himself as a Malaysian returned overseas Chinese, with ancestral roots in Quanzhou, Fujian, and was engaged in engineering construction, real estate investment, and airport investment in Hainan and Fujian in his early years.

Zhong Baojia, also known as Zhong Baojia（This name uses different Chinese characters that share the same pronunciation in Mandarin）， used the name "Wang Qiang" for his investments in Hainan in his early years.

According to his profile, Zhong was the General Manager of the Haikou Office of Macau Weixiong Real Estate Company and founded Hainan Weizhi Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd. Business information shows that these companies and several associated companies were all held by "Wang Qiang" as a shareholder or legal representative.

Later, he invested in Zhoukou Jinguan Investment and Development Co., Ltd. with overseas Chinese Xie Bingcong from the Philippines, developing the "Guandi Shangcheng" real estate project in Zhoukou City, Henan, also under the name "Wang Qiang."

By 1992, Zhong established Hainan Tongao Economic Development and Investment Co., Ltd. in Hainan, undertaking the local "Ethnic Style Street Project" and holding shares under the name "Zhong Baojia." However, the project was eventually shelved due to the cancellation of the land certificate, and Hainan Tongao was still in litigation with the Wuzhishan government in 2023 over this matter, seeking a retrial for compensation, which was dismissed.

In addition, Zhong also invested in airports in Hainan and Fujian, claiming to be "the first private airport investor in China." Zhong Baojia has traces of investment in Hainan Tongao Air Cargo Transport Co., Ltd. and Fujian Sanming Airport Co., Ltd.

Overseas Warehouse or Gambling and Fraud?

Zhong is deeply involved in day-to-day operations of  Yatai IHG. He is not only responsible for the preliminary project inspections but also for the early business promotions, construction commencement, and investment attraction efforts, as well as the application for Thai casino licenses.

Yatai IHG has consistently packaged  Yatai New City as a legitimate business, initially referred to as the "Overseas Warehouse" industrial park.

A press release from November 2019 revealed that Yatai IHG, in collaboration with the Hainan Overseas Chinese Federation, hosted a promotional exchange meeting for the "Belt and Road" Myanmar Yatai New City Industrial Park + Overseas Warehouse, which was attended by dozens of footwear, umbrella, and building materials enterprises from the province.

At that time, the promotional focus of the press release for the park was "creating the Yatai New City Technology Industrial Park (clothing, footwear, hats, and umbrellas industrial park + overseas warehouse) and commercial cultural tourism blocks."

According to an interview with Ma Dongli, the Executive Director of Yatai IHG, he stated that Yatai New City was a project that includes a technology industrial zone, a financial and commercial zone, and an ecological agricultural zone, and is a comprehensive international city integrating technology, entertainment, tourism, culture, and agriculture, expected to accommodate a population of 700,000.

By January 2020,  a groundbreaking ceremony for the important landmark building in Yatai New City, the Xinyongli Building, took place. She Zhijiang did not appear, and the ceremony was mainly led by Zhong Baojia, with the attendance of Ma Dongli, the Executive Director of Yatai IHG, and Chen Ji, the Deputy General Manager of the group.

In May 2020, the official website of a company under Zhong Baojia's name released an investment promotion for the Xinyongli Building, stating that the office building was nearly completed and expected to be delivered by the end of August that year.

This investment promotion revealed details of the project:  Xinyongli Building covers an area of approximately 10,000 square meters, and stands 15 stories high, making it the tallest building in  Yatai New City and even in  Myawaddy, with a construction area of 32,000 square meters. The first floor of commerce is 5.5 meters high, allowing for a mezzanine to increase the business area, the 2nd to 4th floors are 4.2 meters high for high-quality office space, and the 5th to 15th floors are high-end apartment dormitories, each capable of housing 4 to 8 people, designed with 6 fast and high-end elevators. The promotion showed that the building operates under 24-hour closed management.

Beneath the veneer of these commercial endeavors, Yatai IHG may in fact be advancing plans to establish casinos.

On April 24, 2022, Zhong Baojia, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board ofYatai IHG, was invited to attend a meeting of a special committee in Thailand. The meeting primarily considered and studied investment models and business operations for setting up integrated entertainment venues. The agenda included deliberations on establishing comprehensive entertainment facilities, generating revenue and taxes from legal casino operations, measures to prevent and resolve casino-related issues, and the proliferation of electronic gambling machines and online gambling.

Reports have indicated that the Yatai New City is a burgeoning casino intended to take over clients transferred from Manila, Philippines, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It houses several online gambling companies and illegal casinos that deal in cash transactions. Yatai IHG claims that its special zone holds exclusive gambling rights in  Shwe Kokko of Karen State. However, according to investigations by the Myanmar government, Yatai IHG began operating casinos before they were legalized.

Within the Yatai IHG's team, there are seasoned operators of both online and offline gambling.

The actual controller behind the scenes, She Zhijiang, previously ran online gambling platforms in China, amassing illegal gains of up to 150 million yuan. He was arrested in Thailand in 2022 due to an international arrest warrant and is awaiting extradition to China, facing charges of operating illegal gambling businesses.

She Zhijiang's former company in Cambodia, INTER-ASIA INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CO.LTD, saw a change in leadership in 2019 when Koy KIENG MENG took over as director. By the end of 2022, Koy KIENG MENG had obtained a casino license in Cambodia under the name of another company, with the casino named Peak Casino.

Chen Ji, the Deputy General Manager of Yatai IHG, is also a "person of status" in China. He once served as the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Hunan Safety and Disaster Prevention" and claimed to be the deputy director of the magazine "Cultural History Review." Chen Ji stated that after retiring in 2013, he was invited to Vietnam to serve as the Administrative General Manager of the Royal International Holding Group. According to media reports,  Royal International Corporation (RIC) operates the Royal Ha Long Casino, the largest casino near Hanoi, Vietnam.

Since 2015, Chen Ji has been employed by Philippine Yatai IHG, holding positions such as Administrative Director, Minister of Group Culture, and Deputy General Manager. Additionally, Chen Ji serves as the Executive Vice President of the China-ASEAN Economic Promotion Association founded by Zhong Baojia and holds the position of Executive Vice Chairman at She Lun Kai Foundation at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines.

Originally from Shaoyang, Hunan, Chen Ji is a fellow townsman of She Zhijiang.  As She Zhijiang went abroad and acquired Cambodian citizenship in 2017, Chen Ji also changed his nationality to Filipino in 2016 after joiningYatai IHG.

In addition to opening illegal casinos, another serious accusation against Yatai IHG is fraud and human trafficking. The GASO International Rescue Organization also pointed out that She Zhijiang is also one of the masterminds of another more notorious park, "KK Park", which is regarded as the "final stop" of human trafficking in Southeast Asia. It is suspected of illegally detaining thousands of victims, who may be subjected to organ harvesting if they cannot pay a high ransom.

In a statement issued in September 2023, She denied the above statement and denied operating a fraud company. He emphasized that Yatai IHG is engaged in real estate investment and urban operation business.

Recently, foreign media were invited by Yatai IHG to visit the park and learned that there are at least 9 casinos. Although Yatai IHG tried to argue that there is no fraud and trafficking business in the park, the media interviewed local people and learned that the fraud business still exists.

Obviously, the story of Yatai IHG continues after She Zhijiang is imprisoned.

According to reports, after She was arrested, She's apprentice He Yingxiong and cellmate Wang Fugui were operating Yatai New City.

As the notorious fraud area in northern Myanmar was cleared, the fraud group was rumored to move its base to Dubai, UAE.

Coincidentally, the latest news of She Zhijiang's low-key partner Zhong Baojia is that in November 2024, he led a delegation of CFOCE to the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce UAE for a meeting and exchange.

Written by Roxanne Wang; Editing by Kiki Zhao

This text has been translated by AI, and the content is subject to the Chinese version. Click to view the original Chinese text.