China's 'Star' Anchorman Disappears Before Show

A popular Chinese television news presenter has disappeared from his nightly show, just weeks after his boss was detained on suspicion of taking bribes.

Rui Chenggang, a business journalist who works for the state-run broadcaster CCTV, was taken from his workplace by prosecutors, according to financial news magazine Caixin.

He was missing from the newscast he co-anchors, although producers kept two microphones wired up for the show.

It comes two months after CCTV's financial news director Guo Zhenxi was detained as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption.

Mr Guo once praised Mr Rui as the station's "star anchor", telling the New York Times his reporter was, for the first time, "examining the health of the nation" through a television programme.

Mr Rui, who is known for his nationalistic streak, has interviewed numerous political and business leaders during his career, amassing more than 10 million followers on his social networking account.

He once formed a campaign group to remove a Starbucks coffee shop from Beijing's Forbidden City and raised eyebrows when he claimed he could represent all of Asia at one of US President Barack Obama's news conferences in 2009.

As well as his prime-time role at CCTV, Mr Rui is a columnist for Beijing Youth Daily and sits on the board of the China National Symphony Orchestra.