Missing Chinese financier Bao Fan’s China Renaissance plummets after 17-month suspension

Name: SCMP
Telephone: +852-2680-8888

China Renaissance Holdings shares plummet in Hong Kong as the stock resumes trading after 17 months of suspension

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Zhang Shidongin Shanghai

Published: 11:05am, 9 Sep 2024Updated: 4:56pm, 9 Sep 2024

Shares of China Renaissance Holdings, whose founder Bao Fan has been involved in a probe by Beijing for more than a year, plummeted in Hong Kong as they resumed trading after 17 months of suspensions.

The stock tumbled by as much as 73 per cent on Monday, before paring the loss to 66 per cent, to close at HK$2.45. The Hang Seng Index was down 1.4 per cent. The company’s shares last traded on March 31, 2023.

The company has fulfilled all the requirements for a trading resumption after publishing overdue financial results for 2022 and 2023 while confirming that its business operations remain normal in China and Hong Kong, the investment bank said in a statement to the Hong Kong exchange.

“Given the board considers that the company has fulfilled all requirements prescribed under the Resumption Guidance, an application has been made by the company to the stock exchange”, the statement said. “Shareholders and potential investors are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the shares of the company.”

China Renaissance has been in the spotlight for more than a year. Its founder, Bao Fan, has been involved in an unspecified investigation by the Chinese government since February 2023 and the company has not been able to contact him since. The financier resigned as chairman and CEO of the company in February of this year, citing “health reasons” as well as the desire to “spend more time with the family”.

To audit its 2022 and 2023 results, the company hired AOGB CPA.