Chinese billionaire and leading tech dealmaker Bao Fan has gone missing.
His sudden disappearance has renewed concerns that Beijing may be gearing up for another crackdown on influential leaders in business and technology.
- Bao is the chairman, executive director, CEO, and controlling shareholder of China Renaissance Holdings, one of the country's leading investment banks.
- His firm said in a filing on Thursday that it had been unable to contact Bao for several days.
- Bao’s disappearance follows an investigation into the former chairman of Huajing Securities, one of China Renaissance's subsidiaries
- Authorities found that Huajing violated China's securities law.
- Chinese-Canadian businessman Xiao Jianhua was abducted by Chinese authorities in 2017 and jailed for corruption last year.
- Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese tech giant Alibaba, disappeared for three months in 2020 after criticizing China's financial regulators.
- China Renaissance, which was founded by Bao in 2005, has played a major role in the country's internet tech industry over the past decade.
- Shares in China Renaissance fell by as much as 50% following the news of Bao's disappearance.
