China’s Warren Buffett emerges after vanishing, attends AGM

The billionaire chairman of Fosun Group, one of China's biggest privately held conglomerates, re-emerged on Monday after he disappeared from public view in connection with an investigation by authorities, Chinese media said. Guo Guangchang, dubbed "China's Warren Buffett", attended Fosun Group's annual meeting on Monday morning, pictures posted by business magazine Caijing showed.

The publication quoted Guo as saying "there will be a better Fosun next year" during a speech at the event, without mentioning anything about the investigation. Guo had been out of contact since Thursday and two of the group's listed arms in Shanghai said in statements last week the 48-year-old was "assisting in certain investigations" conducted by mainland authorities. The statements stressed the probes had no "material adverse impact" on the finances or operations of the parent company and that Guo was able to take part in its decision making.

Caijing said on Monday that Guo has "finalised" assisting in the inquiries and "returned home safely". It was not immediately clear what the investigation was in relation to, but it comes as China targets the financial sector as part of a sweeping anti-graft campaign following a stock market rout that rocked global markets over the summer. Fosun spokeswoman Valentina Wu declined to comment when contacted by AFP on Monday. Fosun Group is one of China's biggest private companies, and has interests in property, finance, pharmaceuticals, steel and entertainment, and has been aggressively buying assets in Europe and North America, including Club Med.

Police took Guo away at a Shanghai airport last week, according to Chinese media citing social media postings. Other reports said he was being questioned in connection with a probe into former Shanghai vice mayor and director of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone Ai Baojun, who was placed under investigation last month by the Communist Party's internal anti-graft body for "severe disciplinary violations", a euphemism for corruption.