China's billionaires are disappearing one after another. The latest addition to the list is Bao Fan, who is known as one of the top intermediaries in the country's technology market. Not only fans but there are also heads of companies like Alibaba and Baidu in this list. But the question is, why are they disappearing one after another!
Bao Fan's disappearance is similar to the disappearances of other tycoons in the past. For example, Bao's company China Renaissance Holdings announced a few days ago that they are cooperating with the Chinese authorities in the investigation. Soon after this announcement, Bao disappeared. Sadly, something needs to be known about Bao's whereabouts or which Chinese government agency is conducting the research.
Analysts see Bao's disappearance as a way to consolidate President Xi Jinping's control over China's economy. This idea was reinforced when China's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), presented plans to overhaul China's financial system. According to the plan, new financial regulatory and supervisory institutions will be set up to oversee the financial sector. Its task will be to find loopholes in Chinese financial institutions worth trillions of dollars.
In December 2015, the chairman of Chinese conglomerate Fusun International, Guo Guangchong, suddenly disappeared. His company is best known for owning Wolverhampton Wanderers of the English Premier League. Several months later, his organization announced that he had returned and was cooperating with government investigations. Then in 2017, Chinese Canadian businessman Xiao Jianhua went missing. Someone picked him up from a hotel in Hong Kong. About 3 years later, in 2022, he was sentenced to prison for corruption by the Chinese court. In March 2020, Raghav-Boal Ren Zhiqiang of China's real estate sector disappeared. Ren called President Xi Jinping a "clown" before his disappearance. The following year Ren was sentenced to 18 years in prison for corruption.
The most high-profile of those missing was Alibaba founder Jack Ma. He disappeared shortly after criticizing China's monetary policy in 2020. His financial technology firm Ant Group was delisted from the stock market. Even after donating nearly a trillion dollars to the country's 'common prosperity' fund, he was not seen in public for more than two years. There is no complaint against him. Still, he remained missing for two years. It is not known exactly where Jack Ma is now and how he is doing. He has reportedly been seen in Japan, Thailand, or Australia recently.
The Chinese government insists that it has not made anyone missing or disappeared. But they are conducting corruption investigations against top people. The government has said that the actions taken against the country's rich people are mainly an implementation of the government's 'zero tolerance' policy against corruption. But such a move by Beijing has stood as a major obstacle in the country's economic liberalization.
Not only that, analysts believe, many Chinese billionaires have appeared as a challenge to the ruling class due to their vast wealth. China's ruling Communist Party doesn't want to let that happen, and in doing so the party is taking actions that are often shrouded in mystery.
The country's technology sector gained considerable strength under former Chinese presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. Before that, China's power sources were heavy industry, military industry and local government. While consolidating power, Xi Jinping is trying to establish control over these institutions as well as the technology sector. Analysts believe that Xi is trying to establish control over the country's overall economy through this.
In this regard, Nick Marrow of The Economist Intelligence told the BBC, 'Sometimes such work (disappearance) is done to reach a specific message to a specific sector or interest group. At the end of the day, such work means establishing central control over a certain part of the economy. Which has been the hallmark of Xi Jinping's regime for the past few decades.'
In this regard, Paul Trillo, a researcher on China at Albright Stonebridge, a global consulting firm, said, "Beijing's attitude is that no big tech companies and their founders can create their own image and they should not challenge the regime in any way."
The principle of 'common prosperity' introduced by the current Chinese government is that the rule of law will apply equally to rich and poor alike. China is pursuing this policy to reduce the wealth gap between the rich and the poor. The gap between the rich and the poor has been increasing in the country in recent times. In this situation, Chinese President Xi Jinping is under intense pressure from the country's radical leftists. As a result, there is no other way for him to control the technology giants.
The disappearance of billionaires also has negative consequences. Several Chinese analysts say the government is jeopardizing the development of talent in the tech sector by imposing such controls. In this regard, Paul Trillo said, "By targeting billionaires, Beijing is discouraging the younger generation from aspiring to become the next Jack Ma in the country's tech sector."
But Xi Jinping seems to be aware of this risk. In a speech to NPC delegates, he emphasized the importance of the private sector for China's development. But he urged private entrepreneurs to be 'responsible, just and loving' as well as being wealthy. In addition, in that speech, Xi Jinping warned the country's bankers not to follow "Western consumerist bankers".
In view of Xi's speech, analysts say that China wants to control trade very tightly. In this regard, Nick Marrow says, "In recent months, we have seen the country's economy suffer due to China's general improvement project."
It remains to be seen whether the Xi Jinping government's ongoing approach to the tycoons will further consolidate their power. Whether it does or not, there is no doubt that the sentiment among analysts is that China's markets, businesses, and the economy as a whole are at risk.
(from BBC)
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