CEFC China Energy

In 2014, the company generated revenue mainly from oil and gas (60%) and financial services (25%),[3] but operates also in a wide range of other sectors like transport infrastructure, forestry, asset management, hotel management, warehousing services, real estate development and logistics services.[2] A large portion of CEFC's assets were concentrated in overseas markets.[2]

The controlling shareholder was Shanghai Energy Fund Investment Ltd (SEFI), which was registered under Ye Jianming, the chairman of CEFC.[2] In January 2017, Czech President Miloš Zeman appointed Ye as his economic adviser.[8]

The South China Morning Post, in a 2017 piece on Ye, repeated rumors that had appeared in Czech news media that Ye is linked to the People's Liberation Army and noted "speculation runs wild".[9][10][11]

In March 2018, Ye was detained for questioning on suspicion of economic crimes.[12][13] South China Morning Post reported that "Shanghai Guosheng Group, a portfolio and investment agency controlled by Shanghai’s municipal government, had taken control of CEFC China Energy".[14][15] The state controlled CITIC Group acquired 49% of CEFC Shanghai, a subsidiary of CEFC China Energy. CEFC Shanghai owned CEFC Europe.[16][15] In April 2018, CEFC announced possible layoffs of 15,000 employees, who had not been paid for two months.[17]

In May 2015, the company acquired a 5% stake in J&T Finance Group.[18] This increased to 9.9% in September 2015.[19] In 2017, the company applied to acquire 50% J&T Finance Group, but the deal was refused by Czech National Bank because of lack of sufficient information on the origin of most of the funding for the deal.[20][21]

In September 2015, the company acquired multiple assets in the Czech Republic - a majority stake in brewery Pivovary Lobkowicz Group, a 10% stake in airline Travel Service, 60% in football club SK Slavia Prague and real-estate assets in Prague - the building of the former Živnostenská banka at Na příkopě street and Le Palais Art Hotel Prague.[22][23] CEFC also bought a stake of between 50 and 90 per cent in Czech online travel agent Invia in March 2016, probably with a view to capitalising on the rapidly increasing numbers of Chinese tourists visiting Prague.[24]

After CEFC China Energy invested in Czech media company Empresa Media, the owner of the popular TV Barrandov and magazine Týden, the tone of the group’s coverage of China changed; all neutral and negative reporting about China was replaced by positive reporting.[25]

In May 2018, CITIC Group announced they would repay ca 450 million euros owed by CEFC Europe to finance and banking group J&T within days[29] but since the debt was not paid a week later, J&T announced it had taken over shareholder rights and installed crisis management at CEFC Europe.[30] Several days later, CEFC Shanghai defaulted on $327 million in bond payments, and offered to make the payments six months after the maturity date.[31]