Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of Xiao Jianhua, who was last seen in Hong Kong on Friday when some overseas Chinese news outlets reported he was taken by Chinese agents from the luxury Four Seasons hotel.
Chinese news portal Cankao Xiaoxi, published by the official Xinhua news agency, cited Xiao's Beijing-based Tomorrow Group as saying in a statement on its verified WeChat account that the billionaire had "not been abducted" and had not been taken to mainland China.
It added he was "currently abroad being medically treated."
The statement, dated Tuesday, was no longer available on the WeChat account when Reuters tried to verify it.
It did not disclose where Xiao was, nor where he was receiving treatment. The statement also cited Xiao, who is in his mid-40s, as saying that he was a Canadian citizen, a Hong Kong resident and holds a diplomatic passport.
When contacted about Xiao's case, the Hong Kong police said a report had been filed to them on Jan. 28, an investigation was opened into the matter and Chinese authorities had been approached to ascertain his "situation in mainland China".
The police did not identify Xiao by name, but said certain "family members" then requested the case be closed a day later. Police will continue to look into the matter.
Xiao, a billionaire who runs financial group Tomorrow Holdings, is ranked 32nd on the 2016 Hurun China rich list, China's equivalent of the Forbes list, with a net worth of $5.97 billion.
While Xiao's circumstances remain unclear, some media outlets have drawn parallels with the disappearance more than a year ago of five Hong Kong-based booksellers who had published books critical of China's leaders.
A number of Western governments, including Britain, voiced concern that some of the booksellers had been "involuntarily removed" by Chinese agents, undermining the city's "one country, two systems" formula of governance granting Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy under Chinese rule.
Calls to the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing went unanswered. China is in the middle of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday and government offices are closed.
It was not immediately clear how Xiao had left Hong Kong, with Hong Kong's Security Bureau only saying in a short statement to Reuters that police were investigating.
Xiao Jianhua, a billionaire who runs financial group Tomorrow Holdings, is ranked 32nd on the 2016 Hurun China rich list, with a net worth of $5.97 billion.
A missing China-born billionaire was quoted by state media on Tuesday as saying he had not been abducted from Hong Kong by mainland Chinese agents as some news outlets had reported, but was receiving medical treatment.
