Beijing: After the disappearance of high-profile banker Bao Fan, speculations have started that China’s Xi Jinping government is preparing to crack down on the country’s finance industry afresh. Bao’s company China Renaissance Holdings Ltd said on Thursday it had cut contact with the banker, one of the country’s most successful businessmen over the past two decades. This information has been given in a Bloomberg report.
Its effect was also seen in the stocks of the company in the stock market. Shares of China Renaissance fell 50 percent in early Hong Kong trading on Friday. A person familiar with the matter said that Bao has not been in touch with the company for about two days.
He said that the banker’s family was told that he was helping in the investigation. Describing the matter as private, the person said on the condition of anonymity, “Kang Lin, former chairman of China Renaissance Holdings Company, is involved in an investigation being conducted by the authorities, which has been going on since September last year.”
Jack Ma was also missing for some time
It is common in China for officials to be out of reach when involved in government investigations, and that is why Bao’s absence did not seem to cause panic in the country’s financial industry. Similarly, some time ago China’s billionaire businessman and Alibaba founder Jack Ma also went missing. An outspoken financier, Bao has connections spanning all sectors and serves as a banker to some of China’s biggest companies.
what bao fan’s company said
Investment bank China Renaissance said its board is not aware of any information to suggest that Bao is away due to work related to the company’s business or operations and that the company continues to operate normally under the executive committee. Is. Bao holds a controlling stake in China Renaissance and is the company’s chairman as well as its chief executive officer.
Significantly, in late 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched a comprehensive anti-corruption investigation targeting the country’s $6 trillion financial sector, which brought dozens of officials to the government’s target. The investigation has caught the investment banking community as well. The government has implicated bankers from brokerages including Everbright Securities Company and Guotai Junan Securities Company.
