12th January 2023 – (Shanghai) 35-year-old Wang Sicong, the only son of billionaire Wang Jianlin, founder of Dalian Wanda Group China’s largest real estate development company, and the world’s largest movie theatre operator was accused of assaulting another man on a street in Shanghai together with his three friends because he was dissatisfied with the victim for taking pictures of him with a mobile phone.
Shanghai Jing’an Police issued a notice today (12th) and received a report at 4pm yesterday (11th) that someone had been beaten at the entrance of a commercial building on West Nanjing Road. The police pointed out that Wang and others mistakenly thought that the victim Chan who was waiting on the roadside, took pictures of him, and asked Chan not to take pictures. Chan said he did not take pictures, and the two sides had a quarrel. Wang and his friends started to assault Chan and punch him in the face successively, causing the victim’s nose to be injured before falling to the ground.
The local police said that Chan suffered a fractured left nasal bone and multiple contusions on his face, which was comprehensively assessed as minor injuries. The police placed Wang and his friends under administrative detention for 7 days for the illegal behaviour of assaulting the victim. Wang and one of his friends later requested administrative reconsideration and the police subsequently suspended the administrative detention of the four suspects.
Wang Sicong is a Chinese businessman and the only son of Chinese business magnate Wang Jianlin. Wang is considered an example of fu’erdai (2nd generation rich), known for throwing parties, posting pictures which flaunt his wealth, and speaking with celebrities. He was widely criticised when stating the criteria of his potential partners, with one of the requirements being “buxom“. In 2021 he attracted controversy over abusive comments he made against a female celebrity after being romantically rejected.
In 2020, Wang Jianlin tumbled down the rich list as his real estate empire and movie theatre chains both sharply declined in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Forbes ranked him outside the top 10 in its 2020 list of Richest Chinese Billionaires with an estimated net worth of US$14 billion. As of 30th November 2022, Forbes ranked him 39th in China Rich List and 138th its 2022 World’s Billionaires list with an estimated net worth of US$7.9 billion.
