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Preface:
On October 8, 2022, the Vietnamese government arrested Zhang Meilan, the richest Chinese woman in the region, for fraud. As soon as this news was announced, it caused heated discussions on the whole network, why was Zhang Meilan arrested? What kind of butterfly effect will this wave of operations of the Vietnamese government cause?
The arrest of Vietnam's richest Chinese woman shocked both at home and abroad
In the early morning of the 7th, the Vietnamese police secretly squatted near Zhang Meilan's house, and as soon as she appeared, the police would rush out and arrest her.
After waiting for a while, Truong Mei Lan finally appeared, and the Vietnamese police quickly brought her under control, and then took him back to the police station to be detained.
On the morning of the 8th, the Vietnamese government issued a statement on the arrest of Zhang Mei Lan. The announcement caused a stir in the Chinese and Vietnamese business communities, with countless media outlets rushing to report on the matter.
Zhang Meilan made her fortune in Vietnam, her industry is spread in many cities in Vietnam, covering a wide range of fields, such as catering, commerce, real estate, etc., the famous Wansheng Fa Group was founded by her.
In addition, Saigon Times Square and Windsor Premium Hotel were also founded by her.
Zhang Meilan's industry has a turnover of at least 10 billion yuan a year, and she is deservedly the richest Vietnamese Chinese woman. She has a very big influence in Vietnam, and just a small gesture can cause turmoil in the Vietnamese business community.
A successful entrepreneur must not only be good at creating wealth, but also know how to give back to society.
Zhang Meilan knows this well, when the company began to make a profit, she would take out part of the proceeds every year to do public welfare activities, schools, temples, Chinese teachers, widows and the elderly, and Chinese people in difficulty, etc., were all the objects of her help.
This kind act added a lot of brilliance to her reputation and made her meet a lot of contacts.
Especially in 2021, when the epidemic was raging in Vietnam, Zhang Meilan donated hundreds of millions of materials to Vietnamese hospitals, such as new crown vaccines and hospital beds, etc., spending about 570 million yuan.
With her as a representative, Vietnam's business tycoons have also donated materials and money to help Vietnam survive the new crown crisis, and it is precisely because she knows how to give and give back to Vietnamese society, her career will continue to prosper.
For her frequent public welfare, the Vietnamese government commended Truong My Lan and awarded her the Order of Labor of the Third Class. Teo Mei Lan also made headlines in Vietnam and became a familiar figure.
And the reason why Zhang Meilan attracted the attention of Chinese people was because she caught the line of Hong Kong's richest man.
In April this year, it was announced that Zhang Meilan and Li Ka-shing had reached a cooperation, and Li Ka-shing would invest a lot of money in Vietnam to develop new commercial projects.
After this news was released, Zhang Meilan's discussion in Vietnam became more intense, and some people even speculated that after her strong alliance with Li Ka-shing, she would create a new business empire in Vietnam and create more wealth for Vietnam.
But what no one expected was that only half a year after this news was released, Zhang Meilan was prosecuted and arrested by the Vietnamese government.
Overnight, the richest woman in Vietnam became a prisoner who everyone spurned, which is really embarrassing.
We don't know how Zhang Meilan is in prison, but the outside world has given many opinions about the reason for her imprisonment.
Some people speculate that she broke the laws of Vietnam, and some people speculate that it is because of her Chinese identity, what is the truth?
Born into a business family, the richest woman in Vietnam has a history of prosperity
Although Zhang Meilan was born and raised in Vietnam, her ancestors have been in Shantou, Guangdong Province, China. During the Qing Dynasty, when China was in constant war and the people were in poverty, Zhang Meilan's ancestors fled the war all the way and fled to Vietnam to live.
Because of the different languages and cultures, they suffered a lot and it took a long time for them to learn Vietnamese, gain a foothold in Vietnam, and start doing business.
At first, they could only do small business, but with the passage of time and efforts, they also became a famous business with a history of 100 years.
During their time in business, they have also been engaged in public welfare activities, and when they encounter Chinese in distress, they will help without reservation, and it is precisely because of this that they have made a lot of friends.
Born into a business family, Zhang Meilan has shown a very amazing business talent since she was a child.
At the age of 16, she made money by selling cosmetics, because of the low price and sweet voice, so Zhang Meilan's beauty business soon exploded in the school and became a veritable small boss in the school.
But the cosmetics business was only a small test for Zhang Meilan, and after graduation, she began to move into new fields and founded Wansheng Fa in 1992.
Teong My Lan's success had a lot to do with Vietnam's national conditions at that time, Vietnam, like China, was a country with a socialist system, and the early Soviet Union was the object of Vietnam's learning and emulation, but since the collapse of the Soviet Union, they began to imitate China.
In 1979, China implemented reform and opening up, vigorously developed economic policies, and achieved very remarkable success, the Vietnamese government saw this, so it relied on the gourd to draw a scoop and copied China's various systems to Vietnam.
When the Vietnamese people were still puzzled, Zhang Mei Lan had already found a business opportunity and established the Wansheng Group with the help of the family's strength, focusing on trade.
At this time, Wanshengfa Group was as fragile as a young child, and with a slight blow, it would fall.
In order to expand the company's strength and gain a foothold as soon as possible, Zhang Meilan decided to marry in business and married Hong Kong businessman Zhu Liji in 1993.
With Zhu Liji's help, Zhang Meilan quickly made a lot of money and gained a foothold in Vietnam.
But trade is only a stepping board for Zhang Meilan, after the company's trade sector matured, Zhang Meilan took out a lot of money and began to invest in many projects such as Vietnamese catering.
Man Sheng Hua Saigon Times Square Building (red one in the middle)
After achieving good results, Zhang Mei Lan set her sights on the real estate industry in Vietnam, acquiring a large number of gold land, building various projects, Union Square, Times Square, and Duxton Hotel, etc., all of which are properties under Wansheng Fa.
With the development of Vietnam's economy, the real estate business has also become a sweet potato, many people have begun to invest in real estate, and because of this, Vietnam's housing prices have soared.
Wanshengfa's commercial value has continued to increase, becoming a leading local enterprise, and at the same time increasing the value of Zhang Meilan, who has a pivotal position in Vietnamese business, so many people want to cooperate with her.
Vietnam is a treasure trove of investment, and many business tycoons see its value.
In 2007, Hon Hai Group boss Terry Gou purchased more than 6,000 acres of land in Vietnam, and then invested more than 5 billion yuan to build processing plants in Vietnam.
According to Vietnamese media reports in 2020, Hon Hai Group's revenue in Vietnam that year has reached US$6 billion, twice as much as in 2019.
As a Hong Kong business tycoon, how could Li Ka-shing not be moved? But as a foreign company, it is very difficult to gain a foothold in Vietnam, so Li Ka-shing has always maintained a wait-and-see attitude, and only after Zhang Meilan appeared, Li Ka-shing had the idea of investing.
Li Ka-shing fancy her position in the Vietnamese business community, and Zhang Meilan also values Li Ka-shing's power in Hong Kong, so after a short exchange, the two have the idea of cooperation.
After it was reported that the two cooperated, there were rumors that Li Ka-shing wanted to invest 200 billion yuan in Vietnam, which alone shows how much Li Ka-shing attaches importance to Vietnam, a treasure land of feng shui.
Unfortunately, before the investment plan was implemented, Teo Mei Lan was arrested by the Vietnamese government.
Since Zhang Meilan was arrested, many media reporters have set their eyes on Li Ka-shing, wondering whether he will continue to invest in Vietnam.
In the face of curiosity from all walks of life, Li Ka-shing's side also responded quickly, publicly stating that he had not found suitable investment opportunities and temporarily terminated his plan to invest in Vietnam.
For this matter, many netizens think that the Vietnamese government is stupid, and the hundreds of billions of investment that is about to arrive has been let go by them.
Teo Mei Lan has undoubtedly made a huge contribution to Vietnamese business, and without her presence, it would have taken at least decades for the Vietnamese economy to reach where it is today.
Moreover, less than a year after Zhang Meilan's donation of 570 million medical supplies, she was arrested and imprisoned, so many netizens equated labels such as "ungrateful" and "crossing the river and demolishing bridges" with the Vietnamese government.
It is impossible for the Vietnamese government not to understand such a simple truth. So why would the Vietnamese government rather bear the stigma and give up hundreds of billions of interests to arrest Zhang Meilan?
Truong Mei Lan was arrested, and Vietnam's economic future became a mystery
Zhang Mei Lan has made great contributions to Vietnam's economy and various infrastructure, and the Vietnamese government undoubtedly appreciates Zhang Mei Lan, otherwise it would not give her various awards and support.
But as Zhang Meilan's value and status became higher and higher, the Vietnamese government also began to fear Zhang Meilan.
First of all, Zhang Mei Lan is not Vietnamese, but Chinese, and since she married Zhu Liji, she has become more and more connected with China, and even focused her development and investment on China.
From a business point of view, there is nothing wrong with this, after all, there is no one who does not want to make their industry bigger and stronger.
But from a political point of view, if Teng Mei Lan abandons Vietnam and transfers all her assets to China, it will deal a huge blow to the Vietnamese economy.
Moreover, in 2014, there were rumors that Zhang Meilan wanted to change her nationality.
Although Teo Mei Lan has not changed her nationality for the time being, how can such a rumor not cause dissatisfaction among the Vietnamese government and people? Of course, this is only one of the reasons.
Although Zhang Meilan is passionate about public welfare, most of the people she and her family sponsor are Chinese, and the teachers she sponsors are also the same.
If you earn money from the Vietnamese people but do not fund them, of course, it will cause dissatisfaction among the Vietnamese people, and this is the second reason.
Since Zhang Meilan and others entered the real estate industry, house prices have soared like a roller coaster.
After Zhang Meilan announced her cooperation with Li Ka-shing, Vietnam's real estate was even more affected, and many rich people felt that it was profitable and began to buy land frantically, pushing house prices up again.
The Vietnamese people complained about this, which is the third reason for the dissatisfaction of the Vietnamese people.
In addition to the above three, the Vietnamese government is most worried that Teo My Lan will raise funds illegally like the new Huangming Group.
In 2021, the New Emperor Minh Group raised VND 10 trillion by issuing bonds, and then the New Emperor Minh Group repurchased these bonds, and then turned these bonds into wealth management products through various means.
In this way, they not only raised a lot of funds, but also did not have to worry about it, after all, wealth management products are risky, whether it is a profit or a loss, it will be borne by the buyer.
In order not to arouse the suspicion of the Vietnamese government and people, the New Emperor Minh Group borrowed the excuse of bidding for land, and in a land auction, the New Emperor Minh Group auctioned a piece of land for 2.45 trillion VND.
But at the time of the land transaction, the new Huangming Group made a shocking move, and they publicly announced their withdrawal from the transaction.
The most unacceptable thing about this decision was the Vietnamese people who bought the company's wealth management products, which caused countless Vietnamese people to go bankrupt and the securities market was affected.
At this time, the Vietnamese government intervened, and after investigating a series of evidence, arrested the relevant person in charge of the new Huangming Group.
Since this incident, the Vietnamese government has been keeping an eye on major companies to avoid the emergence of the next new Huang Minh Group.
Zhang Meilan, the richest Chinese woman in Vietnam, is of course also under the supervision of the Vietnamese government.
Judging from the statement issued by the Vietnamese government, Zhang Mei Lan raised trillions of Vietnamese dong by issuing bonds in 2018 and 2019, which is quite the trend of the next new Huangming Group.
And Zhang Mei Lan has a number of undeveloped properties under her name, and it seems that she wants to wait for the land price to rise sharply before developing, which will cause a very big blow to Vietnam's economy.
Judging from the current attitude of the Vietnamese government, it seems that they have gathered strong evidence, but it is unknown whether Zhang Meilan's crime will be implemented.
But if the charges are implemented, that Zhang Mei Lan will not only face jail time, many of her properties may be confiscated by the government, and then the richest woman in Vietnam will no longer exist.
Not long after Zhang Meilan was arrested, one of Wanshengfa's company executives died unexpectedly.
Under such a double whammy, Wanshengfa and its industries have been greatly affected, and many cooperation has been terminated, causing huge losses to the company.
Not only that, but the company's operation has also had multiple problems and is also under the jurisdiction of the Vietnamese government. At the same time, there are many local industries in Vietnam that have launched an attack on Van Saen Fa, and the future development is worrying.
How will Vietnam's economy develop in the future? Will there be economic policies after that? But no matter what is done, Vietnam's economic development will be greatly affected.
Zhang Meilan's experience is sighing, from a businesswoman with an annual income of tens of billions to a prisoner with nothing, what will be the future waiting for her?