Where in the world is Fan Bingbing? Chinese movie star disappears after tax trouble

China's highest-paid film actress has disappeared. Fan Bingbing, who topped Forbes magazine's 2017 list of top-earning Chinese celebrities with income of 300 million yuan (￡33,549,455), has not been seen in public since July 1 and has been silent on her oft-updated social media accounts.

Fan, who is known in the West for playing Blink in X-Men: Days of Future Past and appearing in I Am Not Madame Bovary, has been at the centre of swirling rumours involving a flit to the US and being placed "under control" by the Chinese authorities due to her unexplained absence. 

Many think Fan's disappearance from the public eye may be to do with her tax affairs. The Chinese government has  increasingly restricted the luxury lifestyles of their prominent stars in recent months. In June, five government agencies enforced a cap of film star pay, saying that on-screen performers' salaries should be capped at 40 per cent of the total production costs. The government also blamed the entertainment industry for encouraging “money worship” and “distorting social values”. 

The move came after leaked documents suggested that Fan had been involved with "ying-yang contracts", which allow stars to receive a hefty salary while submitting another, lower, official salary to the tax authorities. 

In May, a former presenter for state-run China Central Television (CCTV), Cui Yongyuan, posted purported contracts online that suggested Fan was officially paid 10 million yuan (￡1,117,950) for a four-day project while unofficially receiving an additional 50 million yuan (￡5,589,696.63). 

The documents went viral, causing Fan's studio to release a statement saying she had been a victim of "slander". However, the veracity of the documents wasn't disputed. In the wake of the revelation, China's national tax administration said it had instructed authorities in the country's Jiangsu province – where Fan's studio is based – to investigate alleged use of dual contracts in the entertainment industry.

Little has been heard from Fan's camp since the controversy – her representatives have strenuously denied the allegations to Hollywood Reporter and add that she has hired a prominent law firm in Beijing to explore pressing charges – however the Chinese authorities have continued on a campaign against the country's major stars.

In August, nearly a dozen major Chinese film producers and video sites signing a pledge to say they would abide by the government cap and boycott "unreasonable" pay for actors.

Further scorn has been poured on Fan specifically by the 2017-2018 China Film and Television Star Social Responsibility Report, which ranks celebrities according to their professional work, charitable actions and personal integrity. Those considered "relatively strong role models" enjoy a higher placement than those thought to have "negative" social impact.

While the report has been generally punitive towards film stars, with just nine celebrities "passing" with an above-60 score in terms of social responsibility, none did as badly as Fan, who was given 0 per cent and placed at the bottom of the list. 

The scandal has seen speculation rage about Fan's whereabouts. On August 31 Hong Kong tabloid The Apple Daily claimed that she had been seen at a Los Angeles immigration office after being advised to seek asylum in the US by none other than martial arts star Jackie Chan. Chan subsequently dismissed the story as "nonsense".

A week later, Chinese state-run publication Securities Daily reported that Fan had been placed "under control" by authorities and would "accept the legal decision", causing many on Chinese social media to wonder if she would be imprisoned. The story was retracted a few hours later.

As for Fan's filming commitments, the 36-year-old actress is set to star alongside Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o and Penelope Cruz in the Universal blockbuster-to-be 355, but few updates have emerged since casting was announced in May.