CEFC China Energy  CEFC China Energy () is a private Chinese conglomerate. The company was among the 10 largest private companies in China in 2014. Since 2013 the company has been listed on the Fortune Global 500 list holding the rank of 229 in June 2016. In March 2020 the company was declared bankrupt as well as its subsidiaries CEFC Shanghai International and CEFC Hainan International. The company used complex web of affiliated companies to facilitate fake deals, inflate trade figures and obtain bank loans to fuel its aggressive expansion. In 2014 the company generated revenue mainly from oil and gas (60%) and financial services (25%), but operates also in a wide range of other sectors like transport infrastructure, forestry, asset management, hotel management, warehousing services, real estate development and logistics services. A large portion of CEFC's assets is concentrated in overseas markets. The controlling shareholder is Shanghai Energy Fund Investment Ltd (SEFI), which is registered under Ye Jianming, the chairman of CEFC. Czech President Miloš Zeman has appointed CEFC's founder Ye Jianming as his economic adviser. The South China Morning Post in a 2017 piece on Ye repeated rumors that had appeared in Czech news media that Ye is linked to the People's Liberation Army and noted "speculation runs wild". In March 2018, the company's chairman Ye Jianming was detained for questioning on suspicion of economic crimes. South China Morning Post reported that ", a portfolio and investment agency controlled by Shanghai’s municipal government, had taken control of CEFC China Energy". The state controlled CITIC Group acquired 49% of CEFC Shanghai, a subsidiary of CEFC China Energy; in turn, CEFC Shanghai owns CEFC Europe. In April 2018, CEFC announced they may lay off half of its 30,000-strong staff; staff have not been paid for two months. In May 2015, the company acquired a 5% stake in J&T Finance Group. This increased to 9.9% in September 2015. In 2017 company applied to acquire 50% J&T Finance Group, but the deal has been refused by Czech National Bank because of lack of sufficient information on the origin of most of the funding for the deal. In September 2015, the company acquired multiple assets in the Czech Republic - a majority stake in brewery , a 10% stake in airline Travel Service, 60% in football club SK Slavia Prague and real-estate assets in Prague - the building of the former Živnostenská banka at Na příkopě street and Le Palais Art Hotel Prague.