Liu Tienan

Liu Tienan (born October 1954) is a former Chinese politician and senior economic official.

Liu was born in Beijing in October 1954, with his ancestral home in Qi County, Shanxi.

Liu graduated from Beijing University of Science and Technology and Northeastern University.

Liu joined the Chinese Communist Party in June 1976.

In 1983, he worked as an officer in State Planning Commission until 1996.

Liu worked at the Chinese foreign mission to Japan as an economic liaison officer between 1996 and 1999.

While he worked at the embassy, Liu met a woman surnamed "Xu", who was studying for her doctorate degree at the time and also working as an interpreter.

Liu reportedly began a romantic relationship with Xu soon after.

Xu subsequently migrated to Canada.

While in Japan Liu earned an honorary degree at Nagoya City University, reportedly with Xu's help.

The most serious allegation against Liu centers around his relationship with businessman Ni Ritao (倪日涛).

In 1999, Liu was appointed as the vice-chairman of State Development Planning Commission, an agency that oversaw regulations for some state-owned enterprises.

In 2003, Liu met with Ni during the re-structuring of the latter's paper products company.

Ni Ritao, a native of Wenzhou, was in the process of acquiring a large number of state-owned assets in the paper-making industry.

As Liu's department had jurisdiction over the re-structuring process of Ni's company, the two developed a working relationship.

Ni allegedly grew his businesses through building relationships with various state agency officials, including Liu.

Many officials and their children reportedly became top shareholders or were listed as executives in Ni's business ventures.

Chinese media reported that Liu, along with the help of his wife Guo Jinghua (郭静华), his son Liu Decheng (刘德成), and his mistress Xu, worked together with Ni to set up several corporations in the Vancouver area in Canada.

One of these companies, CGR Investments Inc., was set up in the province of British Columbia, with 90% of the initial equity owned by Ni, and 10% owned by Guo.

In addition, Ni also set up another corporation called "Sun Wave Investments Ltd."

(山威投资有限公司).

Xu was listed as the chief executive for both companies.

CGR was registered to a private residence in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby; its listed headquarters was then moved to a commercial building in Richmond.

The National Development and Reform Commission was founded in 2003 and took over some of the responsibilities of the Planning Commission, and Liu became a director of its Industry Department, as well as a senior official in the special working group on revitalizing the economy of Northeastern China.

Once Liu Decheng reached the age of majority and began studying in Canada, he took over his mother's shares in CGR in December 2005.

It was unclear what kind of business CGR operated in.

In addition, Ni also set up a series of corporations under the "Sun Wave" umbrella, many of which were shell corporations which never had operational activities.

It was alleged that Liu used his influence to secure a $100-million loan from The Export-Import Bank of China and the China Minsheng Bank in Ni's purchase of the New Skeena Pulp Mill located in the city of Prince Rupert, an asset that was already indirectly under the control of Ni through one of his corporate vehicles.

At year-end review meetings in 2005, Liu allegedly said that he would decline banquet invitations (frequently seen as venues to curry favours from officials) from anyone below the level of a provincial governor.

Liu's superior Song Xiaowu said that Liu frequently conducted himself in a high-profile manner, often having police vehicles escort his entourage to ensure smooth flow of traffic on his trips to the provinces.

During the NDRC's performance evaluations of civil servants in 2006, Liu was put up for promotion, but was allegedly rebuffed by some of his colleagues for his apparently "arrogant" behavior.

Nonetheless, he was still appointed to become the deputy director of the Northeast China working group at the end of 2006, which placed him at the same rank as a Deputy Minister.

Liu was critical of the policies of his then-superior Zhang Guobao.

In March 2008, Liu was appointed as the vice-chairman of National Development and Reform Commission.

In December 2010, Liu was appointed as the Chairman of National Energy Administration, a body under the NDRC that oversees energy affairs in China.

He served as the Director of the National Energy Administration between 2011 and 2013, the deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) from 2008 to 2011, and deputy director of the Revitalizing Old Industrial Bases in Northeast China Special Working Group between 2006 and 2008.

In September 2011, Liu gained a seat on the powerful National Energy Commission, a supra-ministerial energy coordination body that was chaired by the Premier.

In 2013, Liu was investigated and dismissed for corruption-related offenses.

In December 2014, Liu was convicted on charges of bribery, and sentenced to life in prison.

Several other politicians working with Liu at the NDRC, including Xu Yongsheng and Wei Pengyuan, were charged with corruption as well, with Wei being given the death penalty.