Hu Haifeng is a Chinese businessman and the son of Chinese President Hu Jintao

Hu Jintao

Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...

.

Biography

Hu Haifeng was the president of Nuctech

Nuctech

Nuctech is a company created in 1997 as an offshoot of Beijing's Tsinghua University. The company was headed by Hu Haifeng, son of President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao until 2008.-History:...

, a Tsinghua University

Tsinghua University

Tsinghua University , colloquially known in Chinese as Qinghua, is a university in Beijing, China. The school is one of the nine universities of the C9 League. It was established in 1911 under the name "Tsinghua Xuetang" or "Tsinghua College" and was renamed the "Tsinghua School" one year later...

-owned company created in the late 1990s to make large scanners

Image scanner

In computing, an image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner—is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object, and converts it to a digital image. Common examples found in offices are variations of the desktop scanner where the document is placed on a glass...

 for shipping, trucking containers

Intermodal container

An intermodal container is a standardized reusable steel box used for the safe, efficient and secure storage and movement of materials and products within a global containerized intermodal freight transport system...

 and railway cars, as well as luggage scanners and metal detector

Metal detector

A metal detector is a device which responds to metal that may not be readily apparent.The simplest form of a metal detector consists of an oscillator producing an alternating current that passes through a coil producing an alternating magnetic field...

s for airports.

After Hu became president of the company, it was granted a near monopoly

Monopoly

A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...

 by the central authorities on the lucrative market for selling security equipment to airports in the PRC

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

. It now accounts for roughly 90% of the domestic market. Chinese investment in airport security has risen sharply after the September 11 attacks.

In 2008, Hu Haifeng was promoted to Communist Party

Communist Party of China

The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...

 secretary of Tsinghua Holdings, which controls Nuctech and more than 20 other companies.

In July 2009, the Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

n government charged Nuctech with corruption. The company has been the focus for repeated allegations of unfair competition in the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

, and also for corruption and abuse of office in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. In South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, investigations of corruption are underway regarding a contract obtained by the company for the sale of scanners amounting to 380 million Rand (54 million USD).

Sources

• Wall Street Journal Asia ("Firm of Hu's son gets scanner pact at China airports" December 13)