Chinese Startup Investment and Bank Tycoon Reported Missing

The chief executive of investment bank Renaissance including Chinese startup investment, Bao Fan was reported missing when the company’s stocks dropped in Hong Kong on Friday (17/2).

“The company cannot contact Mr Bao,” China Renaissance announced to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, as quoted by AFP.

According to the financial news outlet Caixin, Bao could not be contacted since Thursday (16/2) evening.
So far, China Renaissance has declined to comment when questioned by AFP.

In a company statement, Renaissance simply explained that their stock had fallen by 30 percent. Even so, the fund manager and the investment bank are operating normally, according to the company’s report.

Bao Fan is the executive director of the investment bank Renaissance and a central figure in China’s technology industry.
He has played a key role in the emergence of various domestic internet startups in Hong Kong.

China Renaissance itself is a company founded in 2005 and has overseen the Initial Public Offering (IPO) or public shares of a number of domestic internet giants, including the online shopping company JD.com.

Throughout his career, Bao facilitated a blockbuster merger between Didi’s company and its main competitor at the time, Kuaidi Dache. The merger was carried out in 2015.

The case of Bao’s disappearance is reminiscent of the pattern of investigations into top Chinese financiers in recent years.

In 2017, Chinese-Canadian businessman Xiao Jianhua was arrested by Chinese authorities. He was involved in a corruption case and was jailed for 13 years.

The tycoon who is close to top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party was reportedly kidnapped from his hotel room by police from Beijing.

At the time of his detention, Xiao was one of the richest men in China with an estimated net worth of $6 billion or Rp91 trillion.

Meanwhile, Caixin suspects Bao’s disappearance is the aftermath of an investigation into Cong Lin, chairman of Renaissance subsidiary Huajing Securities.

According to Caixin’s report, Cong Lin has been detained since September when authorities launched an investigation into his work at the financial leasing unit of state-owned bank ICBC.