Civic IDEA’s 4th China Watch report addresses another Chinese state-controlled company Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock Co Ltd. (TBEA) which has already won two tenders in Georgia and is distinguished with its tainted international reputation. Below, we provide the readers with the key findings of our research:
- The report explains TBEA’s origins and activities in order to expose its affiliation with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). TBEA is the enterprise group designated by the Chinese government and has its full support to conduct import-export and business relations outside China. TBEAs activities extend to almost every continent, including Asia, Europe, North and South America, Australia and Africa. The main protagonists of its actions worldwide are the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese state-owned Exim Bank. Moreover, the company’s chairman Zhang Xin, is a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), his name is recorded in the list of members of the 11th and 13th National People’s Congress and he also represents the city of Changji in the National People’s Congress. In addition to that, TBEA has been involved in illegal machinations with the Xinjiang Changji Forced Labor Camp, where detainees are tortured, starved, and inhumanely treated. The company exploited the prisoners’ labor rights by forcing them to work without any compensation.
- Our research has revealed particular breaches in the contracts signed between the Georgian state and TBEA Shenyang Transformer Group Co. These agreements were followed by redundant extensions, violation of the fixed terms, futile expenditures. However, the state agencies involved in the procurement procedures, turned a blind eye to these legal violations while granting TBEA with various privileges. To encourage the Chinese company TBEA, the tender commission does not spare any effort to change the terms of the projects while also disqualifying competitors for utterly incomprehensible reasons.
- Our report thoroughly reviews the TBEA corruption and fraud scandals in Gambia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, proving that its reputation is being questioned internationally. However, this occasion did not prevent JSC “Georgian State Electro system” to entrust the implementation of the large-scale infrastructural projects to TBEA that left the Kyrgyz population without electricity and heating at -27 degrees Celsius, a company whose branch in India is facing the problem of insolvency, a company that is exposed to corrupt dealings with various governments.
- Similar to other Chinese companies operating in Georgia, the state did not even try to implement the so-called “due diligence” concerning TBEA and its activities worldwide. The government failed to examine the company’s international reputation, while even the simplest and the most accessible search platform, Google instantly provides information regarding TBEA’s scandalous and corrupt deals sourced from trusted and qualified media outlets.
