A Financial Times investigation over the past few weeks has shone a light on Hanergy, a Beijing-based solar business. One of a host of Chinese ventures that have achieved listings in Hong Kong in recent years, the company stands out mainly for the explosiveness of its stock price performance. Shares in Hanergy Thin Film, its 73 per cent owned Hong Kong-quoted subsidiary, have risen by about 1,800 per cent since the beginning of 2013.

They now value the listed company, which distributes solar panel making machinery, at some $35bn, and have propelled the group’s founder, Li Hejun, to the summit of Forbes’s Chinese rich list. Hanergy’s bosses refer to the entrepreneur, without apparent hint of irony, as the region’s Steve Jobs.

HTF is valued at more than five times as much as its largest competitor, the US thin-film solar company First Solar. In China, it is worth more than all other Chinese solar companies combined. But the FT has uncovered unconventional practices that raise questions about this extraordinary performance.