On Aug. 2, 2017, Hunter Biden signed a formal consulting deal with Ye Jianming, boss of the Chinese energy company CEFC.
Ye even sent a 3-carat diamond to Hunter's hotel afterward with a note thanking him for a previous meeting. The agreement between Hunter Biden and Ye specified that the two would jointly pursue business opportunities under Hudson West III LLC. The company would be owned equally by Hunter Biden’s firm Owasco and Coldharbour, a group controlled by Ye lieutenant Mervyn Yan, according to New York Post Columnist Miranda Devine’s book “Laptop From Hell.”
On Aug. 8, 2017, the Chinese side seeded Hudson West with $5 million. Over time the lion’s share of the cash ended in an account linked to Hunter Biden, while $1.4 million found its way to the Lion Hall Group, James Biden’s consulting shop.