Husband, wife behind sanctioned China energy giant Hengli Group lose $1.78 billion

BEIJING - Oil volatility from the Iran war had until recently lifted the fortunes of Ms Fan Hongwei and her husband, Mr Chen Jianhua, who together built Hengli Group into one of China’s biggest energy companies.

The couple’s gains rapidly reversed after the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned their Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery for its deep ties to Iranian crude, labelling the unit “one of Iran’s largest customers for crude oil and other petroleum products”.

The sanctions triggered a roughly US$1.4 billion (S$1.78 billion) wipeout in their fortunes on April 27, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after shares of Hengli Petrochemical tumbled 10 per cent.

Ms Fan is now worth US$7.7 billion and Mr Chen, US$7.3 billion, according to the wealth index. The drop wiped out around half of their net income gains in 2026.

The move targeted Hengli for allegedly facilitating billions of dollars in purchases from Tehran and injects fresh tension into an expected summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in May.

China has been able to cushion the impact of a historic energy crunch over the past two months in part due to Iranian oil. 

“For many private industrial families, situations like this highlight how their business, capital and geopolitical exposure are often deeply intertwined,” said Mr Harry Yu, senior partner for trust and family office advisory at Fung Yu Trust Services (Hong Kong) Ltd.

“In that sense, families today are navigating a much more delicate balance: maintaining commercial relationships and scale, while managing increasing geopolitical and compliance risks.”

Hengli Petrochemical denied any trade ties with Iran in an exchange filing on April 27.
BLOOMBERG