Amid economic struggles in China, police seize assets target business owners

Posts circulating on social media reveal that police across China have been targeting private business owners, freezing assets, and demanding money in return for releasing funds as per a report in the Voice of America.

Zhang Ke (not the real identity), a man hiding from police in Guangzhou since September, says he has done nothing wrong but is evading authorities to avoid extortion.

His ordeal began in July when all of his bank accounts were frozen by the Nanle County Public Security Bureau in Henan province. The reason: Zhang’s sports lottery distributor business, which he ran by offering clients a way to gamble remotely. In exchange for lifting the freeze, police demanded USD 55,000 — nearly the entirety of Zhang’s earnings, Voice of America (VOA) reported.

According to Zhang, he is far from alone. Nearly 10,000 incidents of asset freezes have been reported in just Guangzhou province, with many businesses, like Zhang’s, left vulnerable to such extortion.

Zhang’s business, which involves gambling on behalf of clients through social media platforms, operates in a grey area of Chinese law. While the sale of physical lottery tickets is regulated, the sale of sports lottery tickets online is prohibited.

However, Zhang’s company does not distribute physical tickets, making the law’s interpretation subjective and open to exploitation. Zhang believes the legal ambiguity allows cross-provincial police officers to exploit business owners for profit. “The lack of clarity and standards for interpretation provides these cross-provincial police officers an opportunity to incriminate tens of thousands of store owners,” Zhang explained.

The practice of what internet users are calling “offshore fishing” has become a widespread issue. Police from one province are seizing assets from businesses in other provinces, often transferring money directly into personal accounts, reported VOA.

“The police asked them for money and the money was then transferred to the policemen’s personal accounts, not to the public security bureau’s corporate accounts,” Zhang added.

Experts point to the country’s economic downturn as a driving factor behind this rise in unlawful enforcement.

Teng Biao, a professor at Hunter College, explained that local governments, once reliant on land sales for revenue, have been turning to “offshore fishing” as a means to fill their coffers. “The local governments used to rely on selling land for financial resources. But the economic downturn and crippled property market stripped them of that option,” he said as per the report by VOA.

Many business owners, including Zhang, have been forced to pay these illegal fines to avoid arrest. “If you don’t give the police money, you’re going to be locked up,” he said.

Zhang now believes his only option is to leave China altogether. “I don’t want to live in this land of China anymore; it’s disgusting,” he stated.