Shares related to conglomerate Fosun suspended trading on Friday following rumors that company chair Guo Guangchang had gone missing.
Trading of shares of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd., and Fosun Int. Ltd., which trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, will be halted from 9 a.m. on Friday, according to an announcement by the company.
A number of related stocks including Hainan Mining, Nanjing Iron & Steel Co., and Shanghai Ganglian also suspended trading on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges. Fosun is the major shareholder of all three companies.
The trading suspension comes after the news broke on Thursday afternoon that Guo had gone AWOL, many linked his disappearance to an investigation by the authorities.
Fosun is one of China's biggest private conglomerates. It has pharmaceutical, real estate, private equity, steel and mining interests.
