A war of words has broken out between the mainland media and a business association that has teamed up with the China Youth Development Foundation to build 1,000 primary schools in Africa.
The World Eminence Chinese Business Association, a for-profit organisation registered in Hong Kong that claims to have more than 50,000 members among the global Chinese business community, has been at the centre of a storm since last week.
Critics question why the association has so much money at its disposal, why it is spending so much money in Africa instead of China, and why it let the 24-year-old daughter of its chairman take charge of the charity programme.
As more mainland media and internet users began to investigate the background of the company, they raised further questions, saying it had exaggerated its links with the United Nations, promised its members many opportunities to meet state leaders, and asked its employees to use aggressive approaches such as repeated telephone calls to recruit members, who had to pay membership fees of up to tens of thousands of yuan a year.
Established in 2005, the association has tens of thousands of members from business circles at home and abroad. On its website, it says it has held more than 100 trade and charity events in more than 20 countries, facilitating 300 billion yuan (HK$365.4 billion) in business deals.
The Beijing News, quoting former association employees, reported on Thursday that it earned at least 2 billion yuan a year from its membership fees. And The Southern Metropolis News reported on Sunday that the association exaggerated its partnership with the UN by omitting the word 'former' when referring to retired UN officials in its press releases.
