Beijing: The real estate company owned by the family of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser withdrew on Friday from a sales pitch to Chinese investors after it sparked an uproar.
White House aide Jared Kushner’s sister headlined events in Beijing and Shanghai last weekend to seek more than $150 million in investment in a US luxury apartment complex.
Nicole Kushner Meyer urged wealthy Chinese to buy stakes through the EB-5 visa program that offers US residency in exchange for at least $500,000 investment in a US business that must also create at least 10 American jobs.
The presentation raised concern over potential conflicts of interest and set off a media firestorm in the US. Kushner is married to Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, who also works for the White House. On Monday, the Kushner Company apologised after it emerged that Meyer had mentioned her brother’s name during the sales pitch.
The names of Meyer and Kushner Company president Laurent Morali were on advertisements for the five-city tour that included the southern cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou this weekend.
But a company spokesman told AFP in a brief statement on Friday: “No one from Kushner Companies will be in China this weekend.” While the Kushner Company is not sending anyone, the weekend’s presentations were not cancelled by the host, the Chinese government-approved immigration agency QWOS.
Journalists had been asked to leave the hotel ballroom where Meyer had made her presentation in Beijing last Saturday. In Shanghai last Sunday, they were told they could not attend the “private event” even though it was publicly advertised.
