Prominent tycoon entangled in Chinese investigation

World Today

In this June 25, 2015 photo, Guo Guangchang attends the opening ceremony of the new Internet bank MYbank in Hangzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province. China’s biggest private conglomerate has suspended trading of its shares on Friday, Dec 11, 2015 following a report by a business magazine that its chairman Guo Guangchang, one of the country’s most prominent business leaders, is missing. (Chinatopix Via AP)

One of China’s top entrepreneurs, Guo Guangchang, the chairman of the Fosun conglomerate that owns Club Med and other businesses in Europe and the U.S., is assisting Chinese authorities with an investigation, his company said.

Fosun released a statement on Friday evening, saying Guo Guangchang , the chairman of the group is assisting Chinese authorities with an investigation

Fosun released a statement on Friday evening, saying Guo Guangchang , the chairman of the group is assisting Chinese authorities with an investigation

Fosun International released a statement through Hong Kong’s stock exchange on Friday evening after Chinese business magazine Caixin reported company employees were unable to contact chairman Guo Guangchang. The statement said the company understands Guo is “currently assisting in certain investigations carried out by mainland judiciary authorities.”

A series of figures in China’s securities industry have  been detained since August after authorities launched an investigation following a plunge in Chinese share prices in June.

Fosun, China’s biggest privately owned conglomerate, and its pharmaceutical unit had suspended trading of their shares Friday in Hong Kong.

Fosun’s statement said Guo “may continue to take part in decision makings of the Company’s major matters via appropriate means.”

Guo, 48, is one of China’s biggest investors abroad. Fosun, which he co-founded in the 1990s, has businesses in real estate, steel, mining and retailing.

This story compiled information from the Associated Press.