One of China's biggest private-sector conglomerates, Club Med owner Fosun, said Friday its chairman was cooperating with judicial authorities over a reported corruption investigation.

Shares in the group were suspended in Hong Kong after the disappearance of Guo Guangchang, dubbed "China's Warren Buffett", Fosun said in a statement. They will resume on Monday.

"The company understands that Mr. Guo is currently assisting in certain investigations carried out by Mainland judiciary authorities," it said.

The 48-year-old had been out of contact since Thursday, respected business magazine Caixin reported on its website.

Police took Guo away at one of Shanghai's airports, Caixin cited social media postings as saying, without making clear whether he was under investigation himself or assisting a probe.

Since coming to power Chinese President Xi Jinping has waged a much-publicised anti-corruption campaign that has ensnared a long list of officials, including the country's former security chief Zhou Yongkang.

It has largely been confined to within the ruling Communist Party -- with critics saying it has been used for internal faction-fighting -- and Guo would be by far the highest-profile businessman to fall to it.

Chinese authorities have also launched wide-ranging probes into the financial sector following a rout in the country's share markets this year when a debt-fuelled bubble burst.

Last month the head of Guotai Junan International, the Hong Kong branch of a major Chinese brokerage, also disappeared without explanation.

The Fosun Group is one of the country's biggest private companies and its flagship subsidiary, Fosun International, has net assets of 50 billion yuan ($7.8 billion).

- Club Med, Cirque du Soleil -

Guo is China's 17th richest person with a net worth of $5.6 billion, according to Bloomberg News.

He is a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a debating chamber that is part of the Communist Party-controlled governmental structure.

Fosun has interests in property, finance, pharmaceuticals, steel and entertainment, and has been aggressively buying assets in Europe and North America.

It bought renowned French holiday company Club Med earlier this year and in April was part of a consortium that acquired Canadian entertainment juggernaut Cirque du Soleil.

It also has a stake in British-based tour operator Thomas Cook.

Fosun Group is due to hold its annual meeting on Monday, where Guo usually makes a speech, Chinese news portal Sohu said.

He was being questioned in connection with an investigation into former Shanghai vice mayor and director of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone Ai Baojun, it added.

The Communist Party's internal anti-graft body announced last month Ai was under investigation for "severe disciplinary violations", a euphemism for corruption.

Ai's wife was reportedly investigated on suspicion of manipulating the stock market. She died of kidney failure a week before Ai fell.

According to Caixin, Guo was named in a court verdict on Wang Zongnan, head of state-controlled Shanghai retailer Bailian, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for embezzlement and bribery in August.

A Fosun subsidiary is Bailian's second-largest shareholder, it added.

Trading in the shares of Fosun International, the group's main subsidiary, were halted on Friday "pending the release of an announcement containing inside information", it said in a statement.

Another unit, Fosun Pharmaceutical, were also suspended from trading while several other Fosun Group subsidiaries also halted in Shanghai.

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CLUB MEDITERRANEE

FOSUN INTERNATIONAL