- reporter, Peter Hawkins
- reporter, BBC News
-
2 hours ago
Chinese investment bank ‘China Renaissance’ announced on the 27th (local time) that founder and CEO Bao Fan is cooperating with the investigation of Chinese authorities.
The Chinese Renaissance reported that President Bao was missing on the 16th, 11 days ago.
Bao is a Chinese billionaire and mergers and acquisitions leader who deals with major clients such as car-sharing company Didi Chuxing and food delivery platform Meituan.
After the news of Bao’s disappearance, China Renaissance’s stock price fell sharply, but rose again on the 27th.
“We learned that Bao is cooperating with an investigation conducted by some authorities in the People’s Republic of China,” the China Renaissance side said in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
He added, “We will cooperate faithfully if we receive a valid request from the Chinese authorities in relation to the investigation.”
In revealing the reason for President Bao’s disappearance through documents like this, the company did not say where he is now or what kind of investigation it is conducting.
Reuters said Bao’s disappearance was linked to an investigation by Chinese authorities against Kong Lin, another Chinese Renaissance executive.
Meanwhile, Bao’s disappearance appears to be part of a crackdown by Chinese authorities targeting large IT companies.
At the end of 2020, Jack Ma, the founder of the Chinese IT giant Alibaba, also did not appear in public for three months after publicly criticizing financial regulators.
At the time, Chairman Ma was about to list his financial subsidiary, Ant Group, on the stock market, and if listed, he is likely to become China’s richest person.
On the other hand, Bao’s disappearance can be thought to be linked to the disappearance of high-ranking Chinese businessmen one after the other as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign.
At least five businessmen were lost in 2015 alone, including Guo Guangchang, chairman of the Fosun Group. At the time, Fosun Group said it was cooperating with the investigation into Guo’s personal affairs.
After that, in 2017, Xiao Jianhua, chairman of the Mingtian Group, a Chinese-Canadian businessman who was one of the richest entrepreneurs in China, also went missing and was eventually jailed on corruption charges last year.
Meanwhile, President Bao is currently being evaluated as a Chinese technology company tycoon who created the framework of the online consumption economy in China. Bao, who had experience at ‘Morgan Stanley’ and ‘Credit Suisse’, founded China Renaissance in 2005.
In a 2018 article, Bao also noted that his company has a “crossroads” with 70% of internet companies known to the Chinese public.
