The China Contract
The Inside Story of the World's Biggest Financial Scandal ... and How It Was Covered Up
Price range: £12.99 through £20.00
Available 12 November 2026
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About the Book
A fugitive flees Kuwait in the boot of a car, with documents the Chinese government wants buried. If he is caught, he will disappear.
What he carries rewrites what we thought we knew about 1MDB – the financial scandal that shook the world. Billions of dollars were stolen and laundered from Malaysia’s state investment fund in a scandal that brought down its government and put its Prime Minister in prison. Investigative journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown first broke the story and has spent the last decade following the money. What she finds is damning.
From Hollywood excess and superyachts to Goldman Sachs boardrooms, and from political upheaval in the Middle East to the corridors of Washington DC, the trail leads to China – to unbridled state power that buys influence, subverts governments and makes the truth and people vanish. At its heart is an unspoken China contract: a web of financial and political arrangements that protects those involved, silences scrutiny and extends Beijing’s reach far beyond Malaysia’s borders.
The China Contract is a real-life thriller and a warning about the way corruption and state power are reshaping the global order.
About the Author
Clare Rewcastle Brown is a British investigative journalist and the founder of Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak, independent platforms whose reporting exposed corruption at the highest levels of Malaysian government. Her groundbreaking investigations into the 1MDB scandal helped uncover one of the world’s largest financial corruption schemes and contributed to the downfall of Malaysia’s government in 2018. Her journalism has earned international acclaim and numerous honours, including the UN Anti-Corruption Excellence Award, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ Guardian Award for International Fraud Reporting, Great Britain’s Women of the Year Award and the International Press Institute’s Pioneer of Media Freedom Award. Fortune magazine named her one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.
Reviews
‘The China Contract is what happens when a stolen fortune meets a superpower's ego. In this gripping financial thriller, Clare Rewcastle Brown tracks a fugitive sprinting across borders in one chapter and a shell-company unraveling an empire in the next. You won't be able to put it down.’ Tina Brown
‘After uncovering the 1MDB scandal, Clare Rewcastle Brown now chronicles the cover-up. Like a dog with a bone, she’s a classic example of a dogged and fearless investigative journalist who refuses to give up.’ Carole Cadwalladr
‘A forensic examination of the 1MDB affair, written with real authority. Intriguing and, in many places, fascinating, Rewcastle Brown offers strength and credibility in the level of detail around the business dealings.’ Desmond Shum, author of NYT bestseller Red Roulette
‘Clare Rewcastle-Brown is one of the most impressive journalists I've come across. Her work is courageous and illuminating as she continues to follow the case through every twist and turn.’ Bradley Hope, author of Billion Dollar Whale and Kingdom and Oil
‘Required reading for all those keen to root out corruption.’ Gordon Brown, former UK Prime Minister
‘Rewcastle Brown’s indefatigable attention to detail and exhaustive quest to expose the wrongdoing are a testimony to first-class investigative journalism … essential reading.’ East Review
‘A monument to public-interest journalism.’ The Australian
