An influential former Chinese property executive who called President Xi Jinping a "clown" over a speech he made last month about the government's efforts to battle the coronavirus has gone missing, three of his friends said.
Ren Zhiqiang, a member of China's ruling Communist Party and a former top executive of state-controlled property developer Huayuan Real Estate Group, has not been reachable since March 12, they said.
"Many of our friends are looking for him," his close friend and businesswoman Wang Ying said in a statement to Reuters, describing them as being "extremely anxious."