I remember a while back there were a number of stories about Chinese government officials embezzling money and then fleeing the country suddenly over night. At that time that seemed pretty brazen, but perhaps those folks are more aware of how often random people who displease the powers that be may be disappeared or used as an example... and they knew that if there was any risk it was time to get out of town. This is far from the only example of business people, even local celebs disappearing for a time.

Unless you can buy/obtain citizenship from somewhere else, that only gets you so far. Eventually China will get you back on Chinese soil. You're going to need a passport renewal eventually.

China is widely known for pursuing dissidents outside its borders and is not above kidnapping. They also have the political leverage to make Khashoggi-like incidents go away.