Vigilance required against fraudulent raising of funds

ON SUNDAY, the Beijing police announced that Beijing-based assets management company Huayingkailai is suspected of illegal fundraising activities, and 32 suspects, including its chairman Bai Zhiming, have been detained on criminal charges. The news made headlines nationwide because the company has been raising money in the name of developing the Transit Elevated Bus, even though the bus had failed its road test. Southern Metropolis Daily comments:

It was in 2010 that Song Youzhou, the inventor of the elevated bus, first raised the idea of a lane-straddling bus that would allow cars to pass beneath. He said it would ease the pressure on the roads. However, many experts pointed out problems with the idea, such as how it would make turns at junctions, and the possibility of accidents as a result of those driving beneath feeling under pressure.

Therefore the initial enthusiasm for the bus soon cooled. But in 2015, Bai bought the patent from Song and raised the idea again in public, changing its name to Batie. Last August, Bai made a sample bus and publicly tested it on the road, but it could only travel forward, without making any turns. The technological problems remain unsolved and Batie proved a failure.