MARSEILLE: Chinese tycoon Wang Jian, whose sprawling conglomerate HNA Groupowns a host of foreign assets, has died after a falling off a wall while onholiday in southern France, police and his company said Wednesday.

Wang suffered the fatal accident on Tuesday in the picturesque hillsidevillage of Bonnieux after climbing onto a parapet, either to see the viewof the valley below or to have his photograph taken, local security sourcestold AFP.

“He jumped up on to the wall and was carried over it by his own momentum,”a source close to the case told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The 57-year-old businessman fell into a 10-metre (32-foot) void, sustainingserious injuries that emergency services were unable to treat at the site.

“Together, we mourn the loss of an exceptionally gifted leader and rolemodel, whose vision and values will continue to be a beacon for all who hadthe good fortune to know him,” his firm said in a statement issued in China.

HNA Group started as a small provincial airline servicing China’s HainanProvince but has expanded quickly in recent years under the leadership ofWang and co-founder Chen Feng.

The firm’s $230 billion in assets includes a diverse global empire ofbusinesses operating in aviation, tourism, and finance, and includes Hiltonhotels and other marquee companies in the US, Europe and Australia.

But HNA came under pressure last year as Beijing cracked down on the riskydebt-fuelled financing that enabled its expansion.

The conglomerate has now started selling off parts of its empire to paydown debt.

Wang began his career in civil aviation planning in 1983.

Bonnieux is a mediaeval village in the Provence area of the south ofFrance, a favoured destination for the rich and famous over the peak summerholiday period.