The founder and chairman of Fosun, the financial services and industrial group, is helping authorities with a probe around his personal affairs; he had gone missing, media reports said.

(The item has been updated with latest developments.)

The founder and chairman of Chinese financial and industrial group Fosun International, which has recently moved to acquire private banking businesses in Europe, was helping police with an investigation mostly around his personal affairs, the firm said. Late last week, media reports said Guo Guangchang had gone missing, prompting speculation as to his whereabouts. Yesterday, he delivered a speech at an annual company meeting in his Shanghai office, according to the South China Morning Post.

Fosun reportedly confirmed that Guo, was assisting authorities with an investigation. "We trust Chairman Guo is a wise man and will actively cooperate and fulfill his duties to assist the investigation as soon as possible," company president Wang Qunbin was quoted as having said, according to media reports.

On Friday, meanwhile, Fosun International announced that trading in its shares and convertible bonds will be “halted with effect on Friday, 11 December 2015 pending the release of an announcement containing inside information”.

Guo Guangchang, who is referred to as the Asian equivalent of US veteran investor Warren Buffett because of his skill in money-making, had been unreachable since Thursday last week China time, the Chinese financial news site Caixin said, citing unnamed sources.

One report by Forbes, which tried, unsuccessfully, to obtain a comment from Fosun, said it was unclear whether Guo was being held by authorities over a corruption probe. WealthBriefingAsia has contacted Fosun about the matter and may update in due course.

If he has been held, Guo would be the most high-profile business leader to have been caught up in China’s anti-corruption drive. A number of senior political and business figures have been fired.

Fosun has said it plans to buy Belgium-domiciled BHF Kleinwort Benson Group, a bank with a strong German heritage and business footprint; that deal added to an agreement Fosun has struck to buy Hauck & Aufhäuser, the venerable German private banking and financial firm. (See here for more details.)

The firm has made a point of acquiring and launching ventures involving Russian and Western financial services businesses, a sign of growing Chinese involvement in international business.