Nearly five years after the Fanya Metal Exchange halted trading in 2015, the last of the stockpile of minor metals amassed by Fanya were finally auctioned off in early 2020. And, so, the book seemed closed on the story of the short-lived Chinese minor metal investment scheme.
But, here we are one year later, and it is beginning to look like there will be more to this story.
On January 10, 2021, a lesser-known, publicly traded Chinese aluminum alloy company (Harbin Zhongfei New Technology Co. Ltd.) released a public statement advising that RMB 831 million (approximately USD 129 million) in company funds had been withdrawn by the company's Actual Controller*, Zhu Shihui, and transferred to companies that he is affiliated with.