On the night of December 26 of last year, an official State vehicle stopped in front of a building located on the 19th block of San Luis Avenue, in San Borja. The president of the republic descended from the unit, José Jerí, who entered the property with a hood on, almost unrecognizable.
The entry occurred at 10:18 pm, according to a Punto Final report that followed the movement of the presidential car. The presidential office later confirmed that the president held a meeting and dinner with Chinese businessman Zhihua Yang at a chifa restaurant located on the second floor of the building. The official version indicated that the meeting was related to activities for the Peru-China Friendship Day.
What they avoided mentioning is that that same building, which includes numbers 1950 and 1952 on San Luis Avenue, does not only house the restaurant. Several companies related to Chinese capital and Zhihua Yang himself operate on its upper floors.
MEET THE CHINESE FACTORY
THE CERAMIC FACTORY
The offices of Tengda Cerámica Perú SAC operate on the fifth floor — of the San Borja chifa — a company that was questioned by Perú21 in 2024 after building an industrial ceramics plant in Ica without having municipal permits or approved environmental impact studies.
The factory, built on a 30-hectare sublot in an agricultural area surrounded by grape export farms, was built before completing the procedures required by law. Subsequently, the company requested the regularization of its situation before various State entities.
The project, valued at approximately US$10 million, projected a production of more than 1,700 tons of ceramics per day, which requires an environmental impact study. The Ministry of Production refused at the time to evaluate the citizen participation plan when it confirmed that the work was already underway.
But that’s not all. Tengda Cerámica hired the professional services of Nicanor Boluarte, brother of former president Dina Boluarte, on two occasions, in May 2023 and January 2024. These hires were declared by the company itself.
Hidroelectrica América SAC, Construcciones Capón SAC and América Capón SAC also operate in the same building in San Borja, all under the management of Zhihua Yang. These companies are linked to different investment projects, including a hydroelectric concession valued at US$224 million that was never executed.
Two weeks after the meeting between Jerí and Yang, security cameras recorded Nicanor Boluarte’s entry into the same building. On January 9, around noon, the former president’s brother was caught using the building’s elevator, without the reason for his visit being known.
So far, Zhihua Yang has not provided public statements about the meeting with the president or about Boluarte’s subsequent presence in the building. It has also not been reported whether the meetings are related to the projects of Tengda and other companies operating there.
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