Fosun chairman returns home after assisting with investigation

In its Friday report, Caixin said messages on social media sites claimed Guo was seen being escorted by police at an airport in Shanghai, but the reason was unknown.

The billionaire chairman of Fosun Group, one of the mainland’s biggest privately held conglomerates, has re-emerged after disappearing from public view in connection with an investigation by authorities.

The uncertainty over Mr Guo’s fate highlights the importance many major Chinese companies place on a single leader.

The Chinese tycoon whose firm has just taken control of Bermuda-based insurance firm Ironshore in a $1.84 billion deal is assisting authorities with an investigation. “He is not being investigated himself”.

Instead he discussed Fosun’s strategy and performance, receiving a standing ovation from the people gathered at a Shanghai hotel for the meeting, Reuters reported, citing sources who attended the meeting.

Cyrus Ng, an analyst with China Galaxy Securities Hong Kong, said that Guo’s being out of reach will definitely have a huge impact on the companies in which Fosun has invested.

Gou’s involvement, however, is expected to significantly affect his business, although it is too early to say to what extent the crackdown will affect Fosun’s operations.

The Communist Party’s internal anti-graft body announced last month Ai was under investigation for “severe disciplinary violations”, a euphemism for corruption.

Fosun Group owns Club Mediterranee and a stake in Cirque du Soleil, as well as interests in insurance, real estate, pharmaceutical and commodities.

Guo’s reappearance did little to disperse investor concerns over his future and that of his company, leading to a slump in most Fosun-linked stocks once trading resumed on Monday.

But a Fosun bond that matures in 2020 rallied about 5 per cent to 98 cents on the dollar Monday, after a plunge Friday amid speculation about Mr Guo’s fate.

The 48-year old has built up an overseas empire of industrial companies in addition to a host of insurance, banking and asset management firms.

Last year, Mr Guo told the BBC of some of the difficulties the private enterprise had faced over the years doing business in China.

“We are conservative (on the loan) right now and need a clarification of why Guo was assisting authorities with the investigation”, said the banker.

Trading in the shares of Fosun International, the group’s main subsidiary, were halted on Friday “pending the release of an announcement containing inside information”, it said in a statement.