Bao Fan speaks at the ceremony for the listing of China Renaissance on the HKEX, September 27, 2018. Credit: HKEX
Top Chinese business executives face an occupational hazard few of their peers in other countries face: sudden, and usually involuntary, disappearances.
The latest to apparently suffer this fate is prominent investment banker Bao Fan. China Renaissance Holdings, the firm he founded, last week disclosed it was currently “unable to contact” Bao. On Sunday, Feb. 26, however, in a late night filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, China Renaissance said that it learned that Bao was “cooperating in an investigation being carried out by certain authorities” in mainland China.
The Chinese government, though, has neither charged him with a crime nor publicly acknowledged his disappearance. The authorities, however, are investigating Bao’s colleague Cong Lin, a former president of China Renaissance, according to Caixin. He has not been heard from since the authorities detained him last September.
China Renaissance's HKEX listing ceremony, September 27, 2018. Credit: HKEX
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