Caixin (May 6) revealed that He Xin, son in law of the owner of the Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV network is under investigation on suspicion of illegally taking deposits from the public. He was detained by police in Haikou, capital of Hainan Province on May 5.  He Xin is the controlling shareholder of Phoenix Zhixin Information Technology (Haikou) Co. Ltd.  Founded in May 2016, Phoenix Zhixin is a wholly owned subsidiary of Feng Xin Technology (Haikou) Group Ltd., which is 72% owned by He Xin. Feng Xin is a wholly owned subsidiary of Phoenix Financial Group Ltd. He Xin is the son-in-law of Liu Changle, Chairman of the Board of Directors and former CEO of Phoenix Media Investment (Holdings) Ltd., which owns Phoenix TV, according to Hong Kong-listed Phoenix Media’s annual report for 2020. He is the controlling shareholder of Phoenix Financial with a 70.82% stake.  

(Comment: Pro-Beijing and China-owned businesses in Hongkong were advised last month to buy/control certain media enterprises that were critical of Beijing and Phoenix TV was one of them.)