Exhibitor: No illegal or criminal activities during the exhibition period. A gambling enterprise from Myanmar was questioned for participating in the exhibition in Kunming
On August 20th, the 7th China South Asia Expo concluded in Kunming, Yunnan. On August 22nd, Mr. Peng, a resident of Kunming, flipped through the online posts of the South China Expo and saw the brochure of the Myanmar Welfare Group. He discovered that the group had companies and projects in places such as Miaowadi and Guogan in Myanmar. On September 20, 2022, the official account of the Capital Online Police reported that Miaowadihuang, gambling and drugs were rampant, the local public security environment was quite bad, and the telecommunications network fraud was no inferior to that of northern Myanmar. Some netizens have questioned whether the company may be involved in online fraud, which has attracted public attention.
Myanmar Welfare Group participated in the 7th South China Expo. Image source/network
On August 22nd, Li Zhao, a staff member of a wholly-owned subsidiary of Welfare Lai Group, responded to Upstream News. According to a brochure distributed by Welfare Lai Group, Welfare Lai Group's industrial layout in Myanmar is concentrated in northern Myanmar and southeastern Myanmar, adjacent to China and Thailand, respectively. Its business formats span across media, finance, logistics, culture, digital television, entertainment, real estate, foreign trade, tourism, hotels, communication and other industries. On third-party social media platforms, some people said that they saw that the company's business scope also includes gambling, "This company has many casinos in Myanmar, I don't know if it's an online fraud company."
![Exhibitor: No illegal or criminal activities during the exhibition period. A gambling enterprise from Myanmar was questioned for participating in the exhibition in Kunming](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/f3024267ba6f3b436ecfca670a4965a7.jpg)
Upstream news reporters found through investigation that Welfare Group presents two different images in domestic media coverage. On August 17, 2023, Pengpai News reported that the welfare group under the Liu Abao family, the richest man in Guogan, operates casinos, real estate, and other businesses. It is accused of having close ties with the local government and its influence is located in the eastern city of Old Street. On April 10, 2023, China Court Network reported that the Yuanzhou District Court in Yichun City, Jiangxi Province held a trial on a case of illegally crossing the border. The court found out that the defendant Li illegally immigrated from a small town in Yunnan to work at a casino in Kokang Welfare, Myanmar, and later left the casino to illegally immigrate back to China and was caught.
In addition to the negative image mentioned above, the positive image of the Welfare Group is that it actively participates in regional economic cooperation and domestic charity activities. On June 17, 2020, Yunnan Daily reported that Myanmar Enterprise Welfare came to the group, with his brother Liu Zhengxiang as the chairman and his brother Liu Zhengqi as the group's president. They collaborated to promote economic and trade development. On February 5, 2020, China News Network reported that Welfare Group had contacted the Yunnan Provincial Overseas Chinese Office to donate 200000 medical masks and 500000 RMB in special funds for epidemic prevention.
Media reports on welfare coming to the group. Image source/network
![Exhibitor: No illegal or criminal activities during the exhibition period. A gambling enterprise from Myanmar was questioned for participating in the exhibition in Kunming](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/bb43d6ce5d4abcf98f21be7177b7c015.jpg)
So, what kind of enterprise is Myanmar Welfare Group? On August 23rd, Li Zhao, a staff member of a wholly-owned subsidiary of Welfare Group, responded to inquiries from Upstream News reporters, saying, "We don't do gambling here. Our wholly-owned subsidiary is a legitimate enterprise."
Welfare Lai Group is a participating enterprise in the 7th South China International Fair. Luo Guang, a staff member of the Yunnan Provincial Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said, "Like other participating enterprises, Welfare Lai Group's company information needs to be reported to the organizing committee, and the information of exhibitors needs to be reviewed by functional departments, including the police. Previously, we also received complaints from Kunming citizens about Welfare Lai Group in this regard. After investigation by relevant departments, there were no such illegal and criminal activities during the entire exhibition period, from exhibition setup to closure. We have not received any complaints from any country about Welfare Lai Group, and the police have not raised any objections to Welfare Lai Group's participation in the exhibition."