In late March, Ba Shusong, former Managing Director of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Chief China Economist, went missing, reportedly taken away by authorities for investigation. Chinese media revealed that his “trouble” was related to his involvement in an illegal fundraising project for a student.
According to Tencent Finance on March 24, Ba Shusong, who has been missing recently, has been taken away for investigation by relevant authorities, but details of the case have not been disclosed yet.
A report by Caixin on March 27 gradually pointed to a speculation that Ba Shusong stood on behalf of an illegal fundraising project and had connections with a certain student.
The report mentioned that the accusation of Ba Shusong being involved in illegal fundraising was absurd due to his public stance against various forms of illegal fundraising schemes disguised as private placements, virtual currencies, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), and pension financial planning, warning the public of the risks involved.
It was reported that along with Ba Shusong, another individual taken away at the same time was Guo Yunzhao, a doctoral student he had mentored at the China (Hainan) Reform and Development Research Institute. Guo later became an important figure in Ba Shusong’s financial circle. Guo had previously held executive positions in several listed companies and state-owned enterprises before founding his own private equity fund after leaving around 2015. Sources said that Ba Shusong’s troubles could be directly related to Guo.
Ba Shusong is actually a few years younger than Guo Yunzhao. Ba Shusong is currently 57 years old. Guo Yunzhao, who is about to turn 60, was born in July 1966, recognized as a recipient of special government subsidies by the State Council, and graduated from the School of Business Administration at Northeastern University.
Currently, Guo Yunzhao serves as the President of Tokohuili Enterprise Management (Hainan) Co., Ltd., as well as a Director of Yuli Bank (China) Co., Ltd., an Executive Director of Ruifu Investment Management Co., Ltd., an Independent Director of China Insurance Investment Co., Ltd., and an Independent Director of Guangfa Bank.
Tokohuili is a private equity investment fund established by Guo Yunzhao after “venturing out” from inside the system. Insiders mentioned that Tokohuili primarily participates in investments in the primary and secondary markets. “Ba Shusong helped with fundraising and investment projects, being quite active in his small circle. However, whether Ba Shusong holds shares in the project remains unknown to outsiders.”
Earlier, Economic Observer reported on March 25 that according to digital informants, Ba Shusong was taken away by authorities around March 12 for suspected involvement in an illegal fundraising case, after which he became “unreachable” to the public.
Ba Shusong’s last Weibo update was on March 11; prior to that, he used to update almost daily. His Weibo account has over 11.39 million followers.
Informants mentioned that since mid-March, Ba Shusong had not been active in the group chats. Before that, he frequently shared various information with his doctoral students.
At least six months ago, Ba Shusong was reportedly barred from leaving the country.
There were also rumors circulating online that aside from Ba Shusong, his wife was also taken away.
Ba Shusong’s current positions include Chief Economist of the China Banking Association, Senior Advisor at the HSBC Financial Research Institute of Peking University, and Vice President of the China Association of Macroeconomics. His main research areas include macro-financial policies, risk management for financial institutions, financial market regulation, and the asset management industry.