Hunter Biden during the trip was setting up a Chinese private equity fund that current US President Donald Trump has claimed aimed to raise up to $1.5 billion in investment, though the final total was just over $4 million, the paper says.
Hunter Biden has since admitted that he did talk to Chinese banker Jonathan Li and his partner in the fund during the trip, but claimed that it was only a social visit, the report said.
Chinese officials in Shanghai issued a license to allow the fund to operate ten days after the visit and Hunter Biden was a member of the board of directors, the report added.
Hunter Biden’s spokesman George Mesires later informed NBC News that his boss never received any compensation for sitting on the fund's board although he did acquire an equity interest in it after Joe Biden stepped down as vice president in January 2017, according to the report.
The news comes after last month's scandal surrounding a July phone conversation between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. According to the Washington Post, citing a whistleblower complaint, Mr Trump pressed Zelensky to investigate corruption allegations against ex-Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Mr Trump denied the allegations, describing it as "another witch hunt". He also authorised the release of the phone call's transcript to prove there was no pressure on Ukraine. However, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted that the complaint was a solid reason to announce an official impeachment inquiry against Trump.