Kushner family business cancels China business pitch

Nicole Meyer Kushner (third from left) attended events in Shanghai last week

The company owned by the family of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, has pulled out of presentations planned for China this weekend.

Kushner Companies was scheduled to pitch real estate opportunities to investors in the southern cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou at the weekend.

But last week, Mr Kushner's sister, Nicole Meyer Kushner, came under fire for using his name in a pitch.

Critics accused the business of playing up the family's White House links.

The company said the comments were misconstrued but has apologised.

Ms Meyer and Kushner Companies president Laurent Morali had been included in promotional material for the upcoming events.

But on Thursday, James Yolles, a spokesman for the firm, said in a statement: "No one from Kushner Companies will be in China this weekend."

Read more

• Who's who in the Trump clan

• Can Donald Trump get what he wants?

• Is Kushner the most powerful 36-year-old in the world?

Ms Meyer had mentioned her brother while urging investors to put $500,000 (£386,500) into a New Jersey property project through the so-called EB-5 programme.

The EB-5 visa programme, often used by wealthy Chinese nationals, allows foreign investors a path to a green card if they invest more than $500,000 in a project that creates jobs in the US.

Mr Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, is a senior White House adviser

Critics of the programme say it is used as a means of cheap financing for property developers.

Earlier this year in March, Kushner Companies ended talks with Chinese firm Anbang Insurance over a major redevelopment project in New York City that had raised questions about a conflict of interest.