In Depth: As Local Officials Strained to Meet FDI Goals, a Fraudster Filled the Gap

As local governments around China struggle to hit the foreign investment quotas set by their superiors, some turned to a civil servant-turned-businesswoman who used an effective technique to secure billions of yuan — massive fraud.

In August last year, Zhou Meixia was sentenced to six and a half years behind bars for illegal foreign exchange trading involving nearly 8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion).