Chinese premier's family has massive wealth: report

The family of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, a leader known for his humble roots and compassion for ordinary Chinese, has accumulated massive wealth during his time in power, the New York Times reported.

A review of corporate and regulatory records indicates that the prime minister's relatives, some of whom have a knack for aggressive deal-making, including his wife, have controlled assets worth at least $2.7 billion, it said.

The Times' websites in English and Chinese were blocked in China on Friday morning, and searches for the New York Times as well as the names of Wen's children and wife were blocked on China's main Twitter-like microblog service.

Wen's mother, siblings and children have amassed the majority of the wealth since Wen was named vice premier in 1998, the Times reported. Wen was promoted to the premiership in 2003.

Giving one example, the Times said partnerships controlled by Wen's relatives and their friends and colleagues held up to $2.2 billion in stock in Ping An Insurance (Group) Co of China Ltd in 2007, the last year those stock holdings were disclosed in public documents.

Wen's 90-year-old mother had one investment in Ping An that was worth $120 million five years ago, the newspaper added.

The Times said it presented its findings to the Chinese government for comment. The Foreign Ministry declined to respond. Members of Wen's family also declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment, the Times said.

The Foreign Ministry and State Council - China's cabinet, of which Wen is nominally the head - did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The private lives of Chinese leaders as well as their assets are kept under wraps, with personal details considered state secrets.

Still, cases against lower-level officials, often exposed by Chinese media, and reports on senior officials by western and Hong Kong news organisations, underscore the extent to which those with power profit from their standing.

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