A Chinese IT millionaire has gone missing, according to the company.

The Chinese billionaire chairman of investment bank China Renaissance has gone missing, according to the business, whose shares fell in Hong Kong on Friday.

Bao Fan, who is also the bank’s executive director, is a significant player in the Chinese IT sector and has been instrumental in the birth of several local online businesses.

“The business has been unable to reach Mr Bao,” China Renaissance stated in a Hong Kong Stock Exchange notice on Thursday, without providing any specifics.

After the announcement, the company’s stock dropped as much as 50% before recovering to trade at 30% down.

According to Caixin, the 52-year-old dealmaker has been unavailable for two days as of Thursday evening.

When being approached by AFP, China Renaissance did not respond immediately.

As President Xi Jinping continues his long-standing war against corruption, the disappearance of Bao raises fears about a potential increased assault on China’s banking sector.

According to Willer Chen, senior analyst at Forsyth Barr Asia, the executive’s ongoing absence “may be a long-term cloud on the stock, considering Bao is the company’s main man,” according to Bloomberg.

Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry stated he was “not aware of the relevant facts” when questioned about Bao’s disappearance.

“But, I can assure you that China is a nation governed by the rule of law,” he continued.

“The Chinese government defends its people’ legitimate rights in line with the law.”

China Renaissance has grown into a worldwide financial institution, with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and New York.

Since its inception in 2005, the group has overseen the initial public offerings of numerous domestic digital behemoths, including top e-commerce business JD.com.

Bao also helped a massive 2015 merger between Didi, the world’s largest ride-hailing company, and its main rival at the time, Kuaidi Dache.

The situation of China Renaissance is reminiscent of a recent trend of probes targeting senior Chinese financiers.

Chinese-Canadian businessman Xiao Jianhua was detained by mainland authorities in 2017 and sentenced to 13 years in prison last August on corruption accusations.

The millionaire, who is known to have strong links to senior Chinese Communist Party officials, was allegedly seized from his Hong Kong hotel room by plainclothes police operatives from Beijing.

Xiao was one of China’s wealthiest men at the time of his arrest, with an estimated worth of $6 billion.

According to Caixin, China Renaissance president Cong Lin was arrested in September after authorities started an investigation into his work at ICBC’s financial leasing subsidiary.