BEIJING - China's second-richest person, who made his fortune building up the nation's largest home appliance chain, has been detained on suspicion of market manipulation, state media reported on Monday.

Hong Kong-listed shares in Huang Guangyu's company, Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings, were also suspended on Monday, according to a statement from the firm to the city's stock exchange.

The shares were suspended 'pending the release of an announcement in relation to price sensitive information', the statement said.

This followed a report on the website of Chinese state-run finance magazine Caijing saying Huang had been detained and was under investigation on suspicion of market manipulation.

The magazine, which did not reveal its sources, said the detention took place on Wednesday last week, and other Chinese media outlets carried the story.

With assets of 18.4 billion yuan (S$4.1 billion), Huang was ranked as number two on a list of China's richest people issued by US magazine Forbes in October.

An executive at Gome's investor relations department contacted by AFP on Monday morning said she was not aware of the reported case. -- AFP