Fan Bao

Bao was born in Shanghai to parents who worked in the government. In reference to his parents' placement within the government, Bao notes they were "Nothing senior, I'm not one of the princelings". He went to high school in the US.

He received degrees from Shanghai's Fudan University and the Norwegian School of Management.

Bao worked for Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley again, in London, New York and Hong Kong. In 2000, Bao left Morgan Stanley to become chief strategic officer at the Chinese start-up AsiaInfo Holdings.

In 2005, Bao founded China Renaissance, a Chinese financial institution dedicated to China's New Economy businesses. China Renaissance Holdings Limited was listed on the Main Board of HKEX in 2018.

China Renaissance started a private equity investment management business in 2013. Bao is the Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer of China Renaissance's investment management business.

In February 2023, the BBC and other sources reported that Bao had been missing for two days and they were unsure of his whereabouts. The disappearance has caused the stock of China Renaissance to drop by 50 percent, though the company said in a statement that Operations would "continue normally". Later, the company announced that Bao was taken by the Chinese authorities as a part of an investigation targeting Bao's former colleague and the company's former president, Cong Lin.

In February 2024, Bao resigned from all of his roles at China Renaissance.

In August 2025, Fan was reported to have been released, after over two years in detention by Chinese authorities.

Bao lives in Beijing.