The well-known billionaire Bao Fan disappears, shares of China Renaissance collapse
One of the most well-known Chinese billionaires, Bao Fan, has disappeared: in the last few days, the head of China Renaissance Holding was untraceable, said his company, which has among its customers some of the leading hi-tech companies such as Didi and Meituan. The news hit the financial market with the stock of the investment firm plummeting.
The China Renaissance Holding founded by Bao Fan confirmed that she was unable to contact him and that she was unaware of information on the possibility that his disappearance could be connected to operations of the group. The news had strong repercussions on the company’s shares: the stock lost 50% on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, before partially regaining ground, closing with a heavy drop of 28.2%.
The disappearance of the investment banker reopens questions about the iron fist used by Beijing in recent years on the world of fintech, which it had seen in the spotlight Ant Group, the fintech arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba. Bao Fan is not the first case of a businessman who suddenly disappeared in recent years. Already in 2015 there were at least five executives of large Chinese groups who disappeared: among these there was also Guo Guangchang, president of the Fosun group, of which it later emerged that he was collaborating with some ongoing investigations.
In the following years, investigations into the big names in Chinese finance had also hit Wu Xiaohui, the former leader’s son-in-law Deng Xiaoping, for the collapse of the insurance giant Anbang, and the former child prodigy of Chinese finance, Xiao Jianhua, sentenced last year – just weeks before the opening of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China – to thirteen years in prison for corruption.
Bao Fan was also formerly employed by Morgan Stanley, before founding China Renaissance in 2005, according to what he himself declared in an interview last year in which he highlighted the characteristics of his group, namely “dream big”, “get results” and “have fun”, with a “wolf” logic in the business world, but without neglecting the contribution that his group could make to the development of China.
Since 2018, China Ranaissance has been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and Bao Fan had gained nationwide fame for his investments in the Chinese tech world. The company figured as adviser for the stock market listing of some big names in the Chinese internet galaxy: among these is Didi Chuxing’s IPO on Wall Street in June 2021, which triggered Beijing’s grip on the Chinese giant of cars on call, which ended only last month, with the revocation of the notice for the registration of new users.
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