The parliamentary commission in charge of reporting on state contracting with companies from the People’s Republic of China identified thirteen companies, including the construction companies China Railway Tunnel Group and China Gezhouba Group Company were part of a corruption scheme entrenched in the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC). In the 610-page document, dated March 14, 2024, signed among others by the vice president of the commission, José Jeríalso points out those allegedly responsible for the events. During the government of Jerí, these same Companies signed three contracts for S/1.4 billion with the MTC’s National Provias program.
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Surprisingly, the report of the investigative commission indicates that the Chinese companies that are part of the so-called “Dragon Club”, benefiting from the awarding of million-dollar state contracts, had an operator whom the congressmen identified as Zhihua Yang, better known as “Uncle Johnny Yang”, the friend of President Jerí.
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Zhihua Yang is the same Chinese businessman who appears with the head of state in two videos that prove clandestine meetings: one at the Xin Yan chifa, on San Luis Avenue, in San Borja; and at the Market Capón location, located on block seven of Jirón Paruro, in Barrio Chino, in the Center of Lima.
That is, in practical terms, the president Jerí held meetings with a person identified as an operator of the Chinese construction companies who participated in a corruption scheme. And he couldn’t say that he didn’t know, because Jerí signed the report as vice president of the investigative commission of the “Dragon Club.” That is, the president’s meetings were not with any Chinese businessman but with one accused of serious crimes.
The three contracts signed by the MTC during José Jerí’s mandate are:
- Improvement of the Molinopampa road corridor, Áncash: contract signed on October 14, 2025 with China Railway Tunnel Group Co. Ltd., Peruvian branch, for S/273.2 million.
- Improvement of the Cerro de Pasco-Tingo María highway: contract signed on October 17, 2025 with China Railway Tunnel Group Co. Ltd., Peruvian branch, for S/515 million.
- Improvement of the Boca del Río highway, Tacna: contract signed on October 21, 2025 with China Gezhouba Group Co. Ltd., Peruvian branch, for S/608.5 million.
Two contracts were signed by the Chinese Chen Wei and the third by Wu Xiaoxuan, who signed as legal representatives of the Chinese companies identified as members of the “Dragon Club” network.
Although defenders of the Jerí government will argue that the aforementioned contracts were signed in compliance with court orders – the Chinese companies obtained injunctions that ordered Provias Nacional to award them the works – it is also true that the The report of the Oversight Commission on the “Dragon Club” was never approved.
If it had received validation from the Plenary of Congress, the document had to have been sent to the Public Ministry to immediately begin the investigation, between the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025. But it never happened because the report has not been approved to date, so Chinese companies continue hiring without any legal obstacles.
Among those who benefited from Congress’s apathy that it takes too long to approve the report on the “Dragon Club”, which would imply the beginning of tax investigations, they meet not only the firms China Railway Tunnel Group and China Gezhouba Group Company, which signed contracts in the government of José Jerí, but also the “operator” of the group, Zhihua Yang, “Uncle Johnny” Yangthe close friend of the head of state.
The report of the Oversight Commission, which carries signature of President Jerísays: “Based on the systematic analysis of the contracts awarded by Provías Nacional and Provías Descentralizado between 2018 and 2022, This Commission has identified the recurrence of a local business environment linked to citizen Zhihua Yang (…)which would have acted as operational and logistical support for the Chinese state companies under investigation.” Among them, China Railway Tunnel Group and China Gezhouba Group Company, which signed three contracts with the current government.
“Uncle Johnny” Yang does not appear as a contractor for Provias Nacional or Provias Descentralizado but as a subcontractor for the Chinese construction companies of the “Dragon Club.” It was part of the mechanism of these companies to monopolize million-dollar contracts, often through companies that Yang himself controlled, such as Canton Lima and Construcciones Capón.
In this regard, the Oversight Commission maintains: “The evidence suggests that the companies linked to citizen Zhihua Yang (Canton Lima and Construcciones Capón among others) have not operated in isolation, but rather as a facilitator of the modus operandi of the 13 Chinese companies investigated. Their role has been fundamental for the appearance of local operation of the foreign state companies, participating in contracts that today are under suspicion of corruption, abandonment of work and impact on the national treasury, in the context of the alleged criminal organizations that operated in the Ministry of Transportation and Communications during the periods 2018-2022.”
According to the same document, Yang is linked to the Pomabamba Consortiummade up of China Railway N°10 Engineering Group Corp. Ltd., Peruvian branch, through its company Canton Lima, which won a contract for S/195.1 million.
With the same construction company Yang was related to the construction project of the Molinopampa highway (Áncash), awarded by Provias Nacional for S/199.7 million.
The Oversight Commission only focused on the period of the governments of Martín Vizcarra and Pedro Castillo (2018-2022). However, they overlooked Dina Boluarte’s mandate, in which Chinese construction companies continued to win contracts, which must have felt protected when José Jerí, a close friend of “Uncle Johnny Yang”, one of the operators of the “Dragon Club”, assumed the presidency.
They did not investigate the Chinese contracts with Boluarte
- During the Dina Boluarte government, several Chinese construction companies identified by the Oversight Commission as members of the “Dragon Club” continued hiring between 2023 and 2025 (a period that was not investigated).
- China Railway Tunnel Group won contracts for S/1,298 million, while China Gezhouba Group Company obtained projects for S/2,360 million.
- While China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation only in 2025 achieved contracts for S/732.4 million. Also last year, China Road and Bridge Corporation accumulated S/1,218 million in contracts. However, these cases were not investigated by the Jerí commission.
