And he’s not the only one to have disappeared.
Several Chinese business leaders have gone missing in recent years, including Alibaba boss Jack Ma. This list of course doesn’t include less publicised cases of Chinese citizens going missing, especially after taking part in official investigations, anti-government protests or human rights campaigns.
Why do China’s billionaires go missing?
52 year old Bao Fan is a Chinese investment banker and investor and the chairman and CEO of China Renaissance, founded in 2005. Bao Fan did really well; he was even featured on Bloomberg Markets 50 Most Influential.
But just days before his employer revealed that Mr. Bao was “cooperating in an inquiry being carried out by various authorities in the People’s Republic of China,” Mr. Bao vanished.
Disappearing billionaires: Why do China’s billionaires keep going missing | Bao Fan | Jack Ma
It is unknown which government agency is conducting the investigation, what it is looking into, or where Mr. Bao is.
His disappearance has made the world ask questions about the mystery, following the recent disappearances of other prominent Chinese businessmen, including the high profile Alibaba CEO, Jack Ma.
Moreover, the disappearance of Mr. Bao has once again brought attention to the fact that President Xi Jinping is deepening his control over the Chinese economy. Mr Bao’s disappearance is especially relevant because China just recently announced a revamp to its financial regulatory system.
Under this “revamp,” most of China’s financial sectors will be under the control of a new financial regulatory authority.
According to officials, this would close present gaps brought about by the fact that various agencies currently oversee various facets of China’s financial services business, which is worth trillions of dollars.
Coming back to the missing billionaires.
In 2015 alone, at least 5 senior businesspeople became unreachable. This included celebrity businessman Guo Guangchang, chairman of Fosun International which owns the English Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Guo went missing in December 2015 with his company announcing after his reappearance that he had been assisting with investigations.
Another case. Chinese-Canadian businessman Xiao Jianhua was abducted from a posh hotel in Hong Kong in 2017. He was formerly one of the wealthiest persons in China.
Billionaire real estate magnate Ren Zhiqiang disappeared in March 2020 after labelling Mr. Xi a “clown” for how he handled the pandemic. At a one-day trial later that year, Mr. Ren was found guilty of corruption and given a sentence of 18 years in prison.
Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, was the missing billionaire with the most attention in media.
In late 2020, Ma disappeared after castigating the nation’s financial regulations. Jack Ma made headlines because he has not been accused of any crimes.
Though there have been alleged sightings of Mr. Ma in Australia, Thailand, and Japan recently, there was no confirmation for the longest time. In March 2023, Ma finally returned back to mainland China. And the next day after he resurfaced, it was announced that his company, Alibaba, would be broken up into six entities.
The Chinese government justifies its actions on Ma and others by claiming it is eradicating corruption. This is a response to decades of liberalisation in what is now the second-largest economy in the world.
The Chinese Communist Party now wants that control back under Xi Jinping today and is working towards this goal in methods that are kept top secret.
Xi Jinping’s ‘Shared Prosperity’ agenda has resulted in significant crackdowns across a significant portion of the economy, with the technology sector receiving particular attention. China insists that the goal of the programme is to reduce the growing wealth disparity, which is widely acknowledged as a significant problem that, if left unattended, may weaken the Communist Party’s position.
Therefore, Xi Jinping is taking severe measures.
A new financial watchdog was also announced In Feb 2023.
Bankers were cautioned not to emulate their ‘hedonistic’ Western colleagues.
What remains unclear is whether Xi Jinping’s stringent measures will work and let him considerably tighten his hold on authority.