'He stood on the edge of a sharp drop to get his family to take a picture of him and fell'

Lucy Pasha-Robinson

@lucypasha

Wednesday 4 July 2018 18:12

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The Independent Online

The co-chairman of HNA Group, a conglomerate that operates China's fourth-largest airline and finance, logistics and other businesses around the world, has died

The co-chairman of HNA Group, a conglomerate that operates China's fourth-largest airline and finance, logistics and other businesses around the world, has died ( AP )

A Chinese billionaire died after falling 50 feet while posing for a photo on a business trip to southern France, police said.

Wang Jian, the co-founder and co-chairman of the HNA group, a conglomerate that operates China‘s fourth-largest airline, died after suffering “severe injuries” in Provence, the company said.

Mr Wang fell off a wall in the village of Bonnieux, near Avignon, a picturesque area popular with tourists, according to lieutenant-colonel Hubert Meriaux of the Vaucluse gendarmerie.

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“He stood on the edge of a sharp drop to get his family to take a picture of him and fell,” he said.

French police said his death was “likely an accident” based on witness accounts.

Mr Wang, who had a reported net worth of $1.7 billion (£1.3 billion), helped launch HNA in 1993. The group later expanded into finance, hotels, logistics and other businesses in a multibillion-dollar global acquisition spree.

More recently, the business has been selling off some assets as Chinese regulators tighten lending controls and press companies to rein in debt.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4029246&forum_id=2#36451869)