Wanda Group Statement

On December 11th, a Chinese self-media account named “Baoyouqu (包邮区)” published an article titled Wang Jianlin Meets His Waterloo, which spreads vicious slanders against Wanda Group and its Chairman Mr. Wang Jianlin, and is absolutely contrary to the facts. In addition, the author used many specious and insinuating expressions such as “it is said that,” “not officially confirmed hearsay,” and “it should be a coincidence that” to viciously attack Wanda while attempting to evade the author’s legal responsibilities. Wanda Group hereby firmly pledges to take legal actions to protect Wanda’s reputation.

I. Regarding the Bandar Malaysia Project, Wanda participated in investment negotiations following the recommendation of the relevant authority within the Chinese government, and Wanda only dispatched a team for site inspection once in March without any price negotiations carried out, so it is groundless to report that Wanda’s quotation is twice that of the others. Wanda hereby requires the author making this claim to provide evidence backing up such statements.

II. The article also repeatedly claims that Wanda’s RMB 1 trillion worth of assets have been reduced by more than a half, without providing any evidence. In fact, Wanda Plazas are the core assets of the Group, and 50 new Wanda Plazas have already opened so far this year, adding up to a total of 230 such projects which are now up and running. This clearly indicates the Group’s strong assets and continued rapid development.

III. The article states “is it necessary to export a country’s culture through a property developer?” Wanda has supported the spread of Chinese culture around the world. For example, prior to Wanda’s acquisition of foreign cinemas, no Chinese movies were being presented in overseas commercial theaters. However, after acquiring AMC in the United States, Odeon and UCI in Europe and other overseas cinemas, Wanda has now screened over 160 Chinese films in overseas cinemas without government subsidies, accounting for 80% of the Chinese film industry’s international box office.

IV. It is alleged in the report that “Wanda’s money is actually loans from banks controlled by the Chinese government.” Wanda’s net assets exceeded RMB300 billion in 2016, and are expected to increase in 2017. It is therefore entirely groundless to report that Wanda’s funds are borrowed from banks.

V. Moreover, the article slanders that “Wanda’s cash flow has obviously been cut off.” However, Wanda’s cash currently exceeds RMB 200 billion, and its revenue in 2017 is expected to surpass RMB 200 billion as well. All of its businesses are operating normally worldwide without any debt defaults.

VI. It is also stated in the article that “A headhunter company’s empirical data suggest that Wanda’s employees work for an average time of 13 months.” When compared to other large private companies, Wanda has a very low staff turnover rate. This year, even though Wanda has had some PR challenges, none of the Group’s 40 core executives have resigned.

VII. The article also includes gross fabrications about the retirement of two vice presidents at Wanda. It is untrue that Vice Presidents Yin Hai and Chen Ping submitted their resignations. In fact, they are stepping down because they are retiring. Wanda encouraged them to retire in advance and promised to pay their social insurance through the mandatory retirement age. Furthermore, their stocks in Wanda and dividends will be kept unchanged.

VIII. This article also insinuates that there is a connection between Wanda and Li Wei, the former Secretary of CPC Baishan Municipal Committee who is suspected of serious disciplinary violations, and insinuates that Wanda’s Changbaishan Project is related to him. In reality, the Jilin Provincial People’s Government, the Municipal People’s Government, and the county-level government undertook great effort to invite Wanda and the other four private companies to invest, three of which quit the project due to poor returns. The article also claims that Li Wei has frequented the Sofitel Wanda Beijing. We are unaware if this is true or not, but Wanda has never paid the bill for Li Wei or any other government officials from Jilin.

The author also insinuates in a very subtle way that the Wanda-invested Kunming Twin Towers is related to Bai Enpei, the former Secretary of CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee. The Kunming Twin Towers is the first key project in the Trans-Asian Financial Zone created by the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee and the CPC Kunming Municipal Committee. Wanda was the first company to join the development of the Trans-Asian Financial Zone at a time when it was just getting started and was little more than undeveloped farmland. On May 28th, 2012, Wanda successfully bid for the land for the Kunming Twin Towers, and the main official of the Yunnan Provincial People’s Government was no longer Bai Enpei at that time.

Wanda has decided to report the article to the police department within the relevant jurisdiction so it can investigate any criminal responsibility on the part of the author. We have full confidence that the law will uphold justice.

Dalian Wanda Group Co., Ltd.
December 14th, 2017