Chinese authorities have taken into custody two prominent figures in the business world in China, according to reports.
One is a tech entrepreneur, and
the other is a well-known investment expert.
The founder of the Chinese
live-streaming platform DouYu has been unaccounted for for several weeks, with
his company stating that they have been unable to establish contact with him.
Simultaneously, another
executive often referred to as China's equivalent of Warren Buffet has been
confirmed to be in detention as of Monday. His firm, Wohua Pharmaceutical, has
mentioned that Zhao Bingxian is cooperating with authorities in an ongoing
investigation, though they have not disclosed the specific reasons for his
detention. They also emphasized that this matter is unrelated to the
publicly-listed company and that they have not received any formal notice
regarding the situation.
Douyu, the prominent streaming
platform in China with Tencent as its chief shareholder, has not issued any
public statement in response to reports about its founder, Chen Shaojie, being
detained.
The Financial Times newspaper
reported, citing anonymous sources, that Chen's detention is part of an
investigation into illegal content related to pornography and gambling on
Douyu, activities prohibited in China. Chen has been unreachable for several
weeks, with this situation dating back to October, aligning with reports from
Chinese media.
This series of events involving
business and technology leaders being detained by Chinese authorities
throughout the year has raised concerns of a broader crackdown by Beijing. In
February, a highly visible billionaire banker in China was reported missing by
his company, China Renaissance Holdings, and it was later confirmed that Bao
Fan, a renowned figure in the tech industry deal-making scene, was assisting
authorities with an investigation, yet he has not made any public appearances
since.
In late 2020, Jack Ma, the
prominent founder of Alibaba, disappeared from the public eye for three months
following critical comments he made about market regulators.
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