BEIJING, Feb 2, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Billionaire financier Bao Fan has stepped down as head of investment bank China Renaissance, the company said Friday, almost a year after he was revealed to be cooperating in an investigation by authorities.

Bao rose to fame as a key player in the emergence of some of the country's biggest tech giants, supervising blockbuster IPOs and the landmark 2015 merger between ride-hailing giant Didi and its top competitor at the time, Kuaidi Dache.

But he disappeared in February last year as authorities renewed a crackdown on the nation's financial services industry that saw a number of prominent Chinese financiers placed under investigation.

His Hong Kong-listed firm then announced it had been made "aware that Mr Bao is currently cooperating in an investigation being carried out by certain authorities" in mainland China.

In a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday, his firm said he "has resigned" from his positions, including as an executive director, chairman of the board and CEO.

The company said he had resigned "for health reasons and to spend more time on his family affairs".