Who is Bao Fan, the top tech banker reported ‘missing’ in China?

The sudden disappearance of one of China’s top investment bankers has rattled the business elite in the country.

Bao Fan, a top tech-sector dealmaker, has gone missing, as per his company China Renaissance.

The firm said in a Thursday (16 February) filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it “has been unable to contact” its chief executive, Bao.

“The board is not aware of any information that indicates that Bao’s unavailability is or might be related to the business and/or operations of the group which is continuing normally,” the tech investment firm said in a statement, as per Al Jazeera.

The recent incident has raised concerns about another clampdown on China’s financial industry, noted Bloomberg.

Who is Bao Fan and what is known about his absence? How industry bigwigs have cowed in China in the recent past? Let’s take a closer look.

Who is Bao Fan?

Bao Fan is one of the most high-profile financiers in China.

He started his career as an M&A banker with Morgan Stanley in the late 1990s and has also worked for Credit Suisse.

Bao later served as an adviser to the stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen, according to CNN. 

He told Financial Times in 2018 that during his stint as an M&A banker in Hong Kong in the late 1990s, he initially dealt with state-owned enterprises.

However, Bao said he was attracted to what called were “first-generation tech entrepreneurs”. “I thought, these guys could be the future of China.”

In 2005, the investment banker founded China Renaissance Holdings, which became listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2018.

According to Bloomberg, the 52-year-old is known for brokering difficult mergers & acquisition cases, including that of advert sites 58.com and Ganji, and of ride-hailing firm Didi and its then-main rival Kuaidi Dache.

He also helped broker the merger between two of China’s leading food delivery services, Meituan and Dianping, in 2015.

His company has advised the initial public offerings (IPO) of e-commerce firms JD.com and Kuashou, as well as helped Didi with its listing on the New York Stock Exchange and Chinese internet giant Baidu (BIDU) with its secondary listings in Hong Kong, as per reports.

Bao has also invested in Chinese electric vehicle makers Nio (NIO) and Li Auto, noted CNN.

He told Financial Times in 2018 that his “whole dream” was to “build a world-class financial institution, because China should have one, given the importance of its economy. There’s a long way to go. The measure of that is when people think of a Chinese name along with the likes of Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, BlackRock . . . if a Chinese firm can have a seat at the table of high finance”.

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What is known about his Bao’s absence?

BBC reported citing Chinese business newswire Caixin that China Renaissance has not been able to contact Bao for two days as of Thursday evening.

Caixin also reported that China Renaissance’s president Cong Lin has been investigated by authorities for months.

The executive committee of China Renaissance told its employees in a message on Friday morning: “[We] believe that everyone has had a restless night. At this time, [we] hope that you do not believe in or spread rumours,”, reported The Wall Street Journal.

As per Bloomberg News, Bao’s family has been informed that he was “assisting with an investigation”.

Soon after China Renaissance Holdings went public about Bao’s absence, the shares of the firm plunged 50 per cent at one point on Friday, before closing down 28 per cent, according to CNN.

Willer Chen, a senior analyst at Forsyth Barr Asia, told Bloomberg that Bao’s disappearance “could be a long-term overhang on the stock, given Bao is the key man for the company”.

When asked about Bao’s disappearance, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, said he was “not aware of the relevant information”, reported The Guardian. 

“But I can tell you that China is a country under the rule of law,” he said, adding, “the Chinese government protects the legitimate rights of its citizens in accordance with the law.”

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Similar cases in the past

It is not uncommon in China for billionaires to suddenly go off the radar.

China has cracked down on several industries, including technology, education and real estate, under President Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” drive to “keep income distribution and the means of accumulating wealth well-regulated”.

In 2015, Guo Guangchang, the billionaire known as “the Warren Buffett of China”, was reported missing by his conglomerate Fosun International. Later, the firm confirmed Guo was assisting authorities in an investigation, reported CNN.

Chinese-Canadian businessman Xiao Jianhua was taken away by Chinese security agents in 2017. Last August, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison on corruption charges, as per BBC.

The same year, insurance company Anbang announced its chairman, Wu Xiaohui, would not be able to dispense his duties after he was detained by authorities, CNN reported. Wu was eventually sentenced to jail for 18 years.

In 2020, Jack Ma, the founder of the tech giant Alibaba, disappeared for three months, after criticising market regulators, reported The Guardian. He re-emerged in public in late 2021.

Real estate tycoon Ren Zhiqiang went missing for several months in 2020 after he allegedly spoke against Xi’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was also jailed for 18 years on corruption charges, as per CNN.

With inputs from agencies

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