Ex-Victorian Premier Joins Forces with Chinese Businessman for Their Next Venture
Former Andrews political advisor Marty Mei has extensive ties to Beijing-linked entities.
Former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has started a career in the private sector after leaving politics by establishing two new companies where he is the sole director.
Mr. Mei and Mr. Andrews have not publicly commented on their future business dealings and the nature of the businesses is not specified in the ASIC filings.
Marty (Zheng) Mei’s Links to Beijing
Mr. Mei arrived in Australia as an international student in 2006. He worked for Mr. Andrews as a consultant on the Belt and Road Initiative, which is a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) scheme to expand Beijing’s global influence through foreign investment. Prior to that, Mr. Mei served as an electorate officer in Victoria and worked in corporate finance for Southwest International Securities, an investment bank based out of Hong Kong with links to the Chinese regime. According to Bloomberg, several members of the bank’s board are CCP members. Mr. Mei also worked for China State Television (CCTV).
Mr. Mei facilitated a $100,000 donation to the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from the Hunan Business Association, an organization he sits on the board of, as a contribution to Mr. Andrews’ 2014 campaign. He also played a key role in brokering a controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) deal between the Andrews government and Beijing in 2018.
Belt And Road Initiative
The BRI is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted in 2013 by the CCP to further China’s status as a global superpower capable of significant leverage in international affairs. The scheme’s official purpose is to bridge economic interdependence in China through the extension of credit and stimulus packages to developing nations. However, it has drawn accusations of “debt-trap diplomacy,” where creditor nations take ownership of debtor nations’ assets if they default on their obligations. Mr. Andrews signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in Oct. 2018 to collaborate on BRI projects, which was later discontinued by the former Morrison Coalition government.
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As of August 2023, 155 countries were listed as BRI signatories.
A year later in Oct. 2019, the Victorian government signed a Framework Agreement with the NDRC to expedite Chinese state investment in Australian infrastructure and innovation. Both agreements have since been discontinued by the former Morrison Coalition government, with then-Foreign Minister Marise Payne deeming them at odds with the Australian national interest.
