New York (CNN) Missing Chinese CEO Bao Fan is cooperating with the investigation of “certain officials in the People’s Republic of China,” his company said in a statement. Report Sunday.
China Renaissance Holdings Ltd, its chairman and chief executive officer, said the company was trying to locate him and ascertain his status. He was reported missing on February 16.
“The board wishes to reiterate that the group’s business and operations continue as normal,” a company statement said. “The company will duly cooperate and assist in any legal request from relevant PRC authorities.”
Bao is not the first business executive to disappear in a country that suddenly mysteriously disappears. Real estate magnate Ren Zhiqiang disappeared He was jailed for 18 years in 2020, months after he allegedly spoke out against Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Anbang leader was Wu Xiaohui He is said to have been detained by authorities as part of a government investigation. He too was eventually jailed for 18 years.
The firm, a Beijing-based investment bank and private equity firm, said it was monitoring the situation and would make further statements “if appropriate.”
One of China’s leading investment bankers
Bao is known as a Senior Contractor In China’s technology industry. In 2015, he facilitated the merger between the country’s leading food delivery services, Pakwan and Tianping. Today, the combined company’s “super app” platform is ubiquitous in China.
Bao began his investment banking career in the late 1990s at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, and later worked as a consultant to the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges.
His group has also invested in US-listed Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers Neo (NIO) and helped Li Auto, and the Chinese Internet giant Bye (the beginning) And JD.com (J.T) Complete their secondary listings in Hong Kong.
CNN’s Michelle Toh contributed to this story.
