Lord Rothschild hosted alleged Chinese spy’s firm at event in his mansion

The late Lord Rothschild hosted an alleged Chinese spy’s company at a climate change event in his 19th-century mansion.

Hampton Group International, a firm run by suspected agent Yang Tengbo, claimed it was invited to the Responsible Energy Forum 2021 at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire.

In a post shared on Chinese social media, the company said that a senior employee attended the two-day forum in October 2021 “at the invitation of Lord Rothschild”.

He was among 50 “policymakers and industry leaders from around the world” at the event. It is unclear whether Mr Yang attended.

In a separate post, Mr Yang’s firm shared pictures of the late Lord Rothschild with both the alleged spy and another colleague. It also shared a photograph of Lord Rothschild and Mr Yang speaking across a dinner table.

The pictures were taken at a separate dinner in summer 2021 hosted by the Hampton Group and the UK Chinese Business Association, according to Mr Yang’s company.

Lord Rothschild, a hereditary peer and scion of the Rothschild banking family, died in February aged 87. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Lord Rothschild or the Rothschild Foundation.

It follows allegations that Mr Yang targeted the upper echelons of the British establishment as part of attempts to wield influence on UK soil. The businessman, 50, was unmasked as a suspected Chinese spy on Monday after an anonymity order was lifted.

Hampton Group International appears to have seized on Mr Yang’s meetings with high-profile figures including Prince Andrew and Lord Rothschild to boost its credentials in Beijing.

The Telegraph has seen several posts on Chinese social media, shared by Hampton Group International, in which the consultancy firm boasts about being invited to Waddesdon Manor.

It said the Rothschild family estate, built by Baron Ferdinand Rothschild from 1874 to 1889, was “one of the most iconic places of interest in Britain” with “deep historical significance”.

The company also claimed to have personally invited the late Lord Rothschild to deliver a keynote speech at the International Financial Forum in Beijing in May 2021. In a virtual video address, the British financier applauded various climate-focused initiatives spearheaded by China.

Hampton Group International’s Chinese website also lists Rothschild and Co, an investment banking firm established by the Rothschild family, among its “customers and partners”.

Mr Yang, was previously referred to under the codename H6 while an anonymity order was in place. The Home Office excluded him from the UK last year after MI5 deemed him to be an agent engaged in “covert and deceptive activity” on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. He denies all wrongdoing.

The Telegraph has seen photographs of Mr Yang sitting on the front row of a political conference inside the Great Hall of the People, China’s main government building. The businessman sat on the front row at the opening ceremony of the Second Session of the 13th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in 2019, according to his company.

He also attended a reception in the Great Hall in September 2021 “to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China”.

Speaking to Chinese state media following the event, Mr Yang reportedly said: “The personal destiny of each of us is closely linked to the development of the motherland. Every Chinese works hard and strives for his or her dream, and when put together, it is the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

The Rothschild Foundation and Rothschild and Co were approached for comment.