High-profile founder of China Renaissance Holdings went missing in 2023, sending company’s share price plunging
Bao Fan, a star dealmaker and the founder of the boutique investment bank China Renaissance Holdings, has been released more than two years after being detained by Chinese authorities, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
China Renaissance sent shock waves through the country’s financial sector in 2023 when it announced it was unable to contact Bao, who founded the bank in 2005 with two others and still owns nearly 49% of its issued shares. The company’s share price tanked as a result of his detention.
He was one of several high-profile executives in China – mostly from the finance industry – who have gone missing in recent years with little explanation amid a sweeping anti-corruption campaign spearheaded by the president, Xi Jinping.
Bao’s disappearance rattled professionals in the Chinese banking industry as Beijing pressed its campaign to rein in lavish lifestyles among the financial elite.
