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Chinese diamond exchange

China has blocked online access to the web edition of the New York Times after the newspaper published an expose of the wealth accrued by the country's premier and his family, Mining.com reports. The respected American journal divulged that in no small measure Wen Jaibao's $2.7 billion fortune is due to his wife's involvement in the diamond trade.

 

Wen's wife Zhang Beili, considered a leading authority in the Chinese diamond industry, use to head the privatized firm formerly state-owned, Beijing Diamonds. With funds from state-owned China Mineral and her own Gem Corporation, Beili founded the diamond company Sino-Diamond.

 

A U.S. State Department document exposed by WikiLeaks revealed that the Chinese premier once weighed divorcing his wife because he believed she had, in the words of the diplomatic cable, "exploited their relationship in her diamond trades", according to Mining.com.

 

Chinese officials also censored a 2007 Taiwanese television report about Zhang purchasing a pair of $275,000 jade earrings, according to the Times of India.