British lawmakers today raised concerns about Chinese ownership of water utilities and key local infrastructure following ICIJ\u2019s China Capital investigation into financing deals pursued by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world\u2019s largest bank by asset size.<\/p>\n
Senior conservative peer Lord Blencathra, also known as David Maclean, questioned the government in British Parliament\u2019s House of Lords after The Times, an ICIJ partner, reported that ICBC issued nearly $1.7 billion in loans and borrowing options to water and energy infrastructure companies<\/a> in the United Kingdom in the years leading up to July 2024.<\/p>\n ICIJ found that the London units of ICBC, whose majority shareholder is the Chinese state, served as a financing hub for companies linked to sanctioned oligarchs, autocrats publicly accused of corruption and China\u2019s political establishment.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are deep concerns that this poses a financial security risk, especially since ICBC has continued to accept business from Russian and Belarusian clients,\u201d Maclean told members of the House of Lords.<\/p>\n Representing the government, Baroness Sue Hayman of Ullock, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said that the water industry will be included in a mandatory notification scheme that allows officials to block or unwind transactions based on national security assessments.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government takes all security threats extremely seriously,\u201d Hayman said. \u201cWe have to ensure that not just water companies, actually, but any kind of industry that is critical to our national infrastructure and our national security is fully accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n The China Capital investigation<\/a>, a cross-border collaboration with 23 media partners, is based on a trove of 4.8 million confidential files from the archives of ICBC\u2019s London branch and a separate U.K. subsidiary spanning about two decades, until 2024.<\/p>\n \t
China Capital\u2019s rare view of ICBC\u2019s inner workings comes from the confidential archives of the bank\u2019s London branch and a U.K. subsidiary, dated between 2005 and 2024.
\n<\/p>\n
The trove includes reports marked as trade secrets; internal emails in English and Chinese; confidential dossiers and lists on more than 4,000 corporate clients; meeting minutes; suspicious transaction logs; and directives from the bank\u2019s Communist Party committee, an internal cell that facilitates party activities and advances government policies. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n ICIJ also analyzed agreements related to about 200 loans which ICBC London committed to provide \u2014 alone or in coordination with other banks \u2014 to nearly 200 borrowers. Among them were the Zambian government and companies headquartered or operating in about 30 countries, including the U.K., South Africa and Luxembourg and some offshore financial centers.<\/p>\n
ICIJ found that ICBC officers in London acted at the direction of the bank\u2019s Beijing headquarters to pursue explicitly political objectives for its majority shareholder, the Chinese state<\/a>: cement alliances, acquire natural resources and expand control over communications, energy and transportation infrastructure globally. At times, the records show, the bank breached its own sanctions and anti-money laundering policies. ICBC did not respond to ICIJ\u2019s requests for comments.<\/p>\n China Capital shows how ICBC London routinely financed companies with opaque financial flows and murky corporate ownership, justifying the deals as part of its support for the government\u2019s top priorities, including the massive infrastructure investment plan known as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Made in China 2025 industrial policy.<\/p>\n
\n\t
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n\t\t
<\/p>\n