Panama Papers: Who in China's Communist party elite is implicated?

Members of China's powerful Politburo Standing Committee at the National People's Congress in Beijing on March 16. PHOTO: REUTERS

Eight of China's Communist party elite whose family members used offshore companies have been identified in a trove of leaked documents on hidden wealth, known as Panama Papers.

The disclosures by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) risk new embarrassment for the Chinese authorities, already infuriated by the organisation's leaks of the documents - from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca - which have also implicated the powerful and wealthy in other countries.

Here are the eight former or current members of the Chinese Communist Party's powerful Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) who were implicated:

1. Mao Zedong, China's strongman from the founding of modern China in 1949 till his death in 1976

A visitor walking past photos of late communist leader Mao Zedong at an exhibition in Beijing on March 1. PHOTO: AFP

- Grandson-in-law Chen Dongsheng, head of a life insurance firm, was sole director and shareholder of Keen Best International set up in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in 2011.

2. Hu Yaobang, general secretary of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1982 to 1987; died in 1989

Son Hu Dehua was shareholder, director and beneficial owner of Fortalent International Holdings, which was incorporated in the BVI in 2003 using a traditional courtyard home, where his father lived while he was party chief, as the registered address.

3. Li Peng, China's premier from 1987 to 1998

Chinese President Xi Jinping. PHOTO: AFP

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