Bao Fan, the star Chinese banker whose disappearance shocked the business and investing community last year, has resigned from his financial firm China Renaissance Holdings Ltd.
Bao resigned as chairman and chief executive officer with effect from Feb 2, the company said in an exchange filing Friday. The firm’s co-founder, Xie Yi Jing, will assume his duties, while Jason Lam was appointed as an executive director and vice chairman.
Bao stepped down “for health reasons and to spend more time on his family affairs,” the company said.
The announcement came just about a year after Bao disappeared in February 2023. He was later placed under detention for an unspecified investigation by Chinese authorities amid a broader graft crackdown on the financial sector. Bao was still “cooperating” in the probe as of August, China Renaissances said earlier.
The firm’s shares were suspended in Hong Kong last year. They plunged 28% on Feb. 17 last year after Bao’s disappearance was announced.
A former banker at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, Bao founded China Renaissance in 2005, making a name for the firm by brokering tough mergers that led to the formation of ride-
hailing service Didi Global Inc. and food-delivery giant Meituan. His knack for closing complicated deals and spotting rising tech stars made him one of China’s most influential financiers.
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Bao’s detention is likely related to China Renaissance’s former president Cong Lin, who was taken into custody in September 2022, Bloomberg News had reported. Chinese authorities extended both of their detentions last year, according to a local media outlet.
President Xi Jinping has been tightening his grip over China’s US$61 trillion ($81.46 trillion) financial sector with sweeping crackdowns on corruption and wrongdoings. He vowed earlier this month to deepen anti-corruption efforts in sectors from finance to energy and show “no mercy” in the fight, even after having claimed initial victory in mid-2022.
The campaign targeted at the sector has brought down more than 100 financial officials and executives last year alone. The investment banking community has also been implicated, ensnaring
bankers from brokerages including Everbright Securities Co. and Guotai Junan Securities Co.
In China, the sudden absence of a boss has come to signal a government crackdown or investigation. In many cases, the person is said to be assisting with graft probes. Publicly listed
companies typically report they have lost contact with the executive and need to make their own inquiries into what happened within the country’s opaque legal system.
