Former China exec missing after calling Xi a 'clown' over COVID-19 handling

Ren's disappearance comes as censorship over how local media and online users discuss the epidemic has tightened in recent weeks

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 told Reuters.

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 contactable 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".

"Ren Zhiqiang is a public figure and his