The four conglomerates originated in different sectors, but their underlying business model is the same: cultivate
powerful allies in the Communist Party; use those relationships to win regulatory and property concessions; gather investment from friends, family and other proxies of party elites into a murky, unregulated private holding company; borrow heavily from state - owed banks and other sources to finance prodigious growth plans; invest as aggressively as
possible in stock and property overseas as a hedge against slower growth in China and the risk of a weaker Chinese currency.