Shanghai - (AFP) - A Shanghai court announced Friday that it had sentenced a Chinese-Canadian tycoon, Xiao Jianhua, who went missing in 2017 in a Hong Kong hotel, to 13 years in prison for financial crimes.

Xiao He was one of China's richest men, with an estimated fortune of $6 billion.

The No. 1 court in Shanghai, where Xiao Din was being tried, said in particular on charges of "embezzlement of public funds" and "illegal use of funds".

His disappearance in 2017 shocked Hong Kong.

It is known that he was close to senior Chinese communist leaders, and according to press information, he was kidnapped by agents of Beijing.

Since then, little information has been leaked about the case and the Chinese authorities have remained silent about it.

It appears that the investigation targeting Xiao Jianhua falls within the framework of the broad anti-corruption campaign launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping when he came to power in 2012.

The alleged kidnapping of Xiao took place in Hong Kong at a time when mainland Chinese agents were not allowed to move in the semi-autonomous city.

At the time, some feared that residents of the city would be forcibly transferred to neighboring mainland China, where the judiciary is largely under the jurisdiction of the ruling Communist Party.

These fears were the motives of the pro-democracy demonstrations that rocked Hong Kong in 2019.