Zhou Yongkang's son made fortune through father's connections, not business acumen

The photo in the corporate records of a Beijing energy investment firm shows Zhou Bin looking solemn and not unlike his father, former security tsar Zhou Yongkang.

That family name was a boon to the younger Zhou, say several people who had close contact with him. They paint a picture of a man who accumulated significant wealth despite a lack of business acumen.

Zhou and his Chinese-American wife, Huang Wan, were detained in early December, a few days before Zhou Yongkang is believed to have been held.

The details of how Zhou Bin built his business empire within a relatively short time are not known. But two sources told the that Zhou had poor business skills and his success was mainly due to his father's connections.

"Zhou Bin was less likely to be assertive and didn't know much about doing business," said one person who spent time with Zhou Bin, 42, and his wife in the early 2000s. He felt he could do everything, but the reality was quite different, the source said.

One of Zhou Bin's main businesses is Zhongxu Sunshine Energy Technology, which sells oil equipment to firms connected to the nation's biggest oil company, the China National Petroleum Corporation.