The B.C. Liberal government is hyping a deal that it said could bring Vancouver the North American head office of Poly Culture Group (PCG).
The government, which has signed a memorandum of understanding for PCG’s art division to open its North American headquarters in Vancouver, says Poly would use Vancouver as the springboard for expanding its performance and theatre management, art auction and cinema investment businesses.
But the company’s expansion to Canada could be far more significant if it arrives in its diversified format.
Poly Culture Group is part of the massive state-controlled China Poly Group, which was founded in 1993 as an arm of the People’s Liberation Army. Deng Xiaoping’s son-in-law is the former chairman of the company, which has divisions involved in arms dealing, real estate development, fireworks and mining. Its Poly Technologies division served a two-year United States-imposed sanction beginning in 2013 after it allegedly violated bans on trading with Syria, Iran and North Korea.
Clark and International Trade Minister Teresa Wat met with Poly chairman Xu Niansha at the company’s monolithic headquarters in Beijing on Tuesday.
China Poly Group doesn’t report its finances, but it was believed to be worth US$61 billion in 2012 when the New York Times profiled the Poly Culture Group. The newspaper said Poly Culture “had one of the worst records of buyers who did not pay,” and its auction revenue was exaggerated. Still, it managed to become the third-biggest auction house, behind Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
Clark’s October 30 to November 7 trade mission, which also includes Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner, moves to Guangzhou, Vancouver’s sister city, and includes stops in Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson leads a civic delegation to Guangzhou November 7 to10. Neither the B.C. government nor Vancouver city hall have published a list of the entourages on the respective trips.
