Bao Fan missing case: Another Chinese business tycoon went missing for the past two days, and his company enunciated "it has no clue about his whereabouts". Bao Fan, chairman and CEO of China Renaissance, an investment bank and private equity firm based in Beijing, went missing for the past two days. His company, in a statement, said it has no clue about his last or current location.
Check China Renaissance Thursday filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange
In a Thursday filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange, China Renaissance said "it “has been unable to contact” its chairman and CEO. "The board of directors (the “Board”) of China Renaissance Holdings Limited (the “Company”, and together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”) notes that the Company has been unable to contact Mr Bao Fan (“Mr Bao”), Chairman of the Board, Executive Director, Chief Executive Officer and the controlling shareholder of the Company," it said in a statement released on Thursday, February 16.
"The Board is not aware of any information that indicates that Mr Bao’s unavailability is or might be related to the business and/or operations of the Group which is continuing normally," it added.
Who is Bao Fan?
Bao started his career as an investment banker career at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse in the late 1990s. Later, he worked as an adviser to the stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen. After working at top investment companies, Bao founded his own firm called-- China Renaissance in 2005.
Since then, he has been tasting success by investing in other companies in China. According to media reports, Bao was considered the man behind the landmark deals including Tencent's strategic investment in JD.com. Besides, his role was widely appreciated in the business arena after he brokered the merger of ride-hailing power players Didi and Kuaidi, food delivery giants Meituan and Dianping, and advert sites 58.com and Ganji.
According to an article published by BBC in 2018, Bao mentioned that his company had "crossed paths" with 70% of the internet companies known by the Chinese public.
China has a history of disappearance of its business tycoons
It is worth mentioning this is not the first time when a business tycoon or an important official has gone missing in China. In several instances, the authorities crack down on titans after their critical stand against President Xi Jingping-led government.
According to Caixin, a Chinese financial news outlet, a similar situation was also reported in the company when the authorities detained China Renaissance president Cong Lin in September last year.
However, the company did not mention if Lin was still associated with the firm or had resigned.
Read: Alibaba Group Founder Jack Ma Suspected To Be Missing For 2 Months
At a time when the world had been facing the unprecedented crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, real estate tycoon Ren Zhiqiang disappeared for several months. Zhiqiang's disappearance came after he spoke against the Chinese government about the ill arrangements and improper handling of the lethal virus. Later, he was eventually jailed for 18 years on corruption charges.
In the same year, Chinese business magnate, investor and philanthropist, Jack Ma disappeared from public view for more than three months.
As per media reports, he was allegedly detained for making comments critical of market regulators. Before Ma, Wu Xiaohui, a top insurance agent, went missing in a similar move. Despite international pressure, Chinese authorities never revealed the reason or discussed in public the sudden disappearance of its tech leaders.
Also Read: Jack Ma resurfaces! Alibaba founder spotted after months of China crackdown
