Actress Fan Bingbing attends the screening of 'Ash Is Purest White (Jiang Hu Er Nv)' during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France.

The disappearance of one of China's most famous actresses has fueled suspicions about the role of Chinese authorities.

Fan Bingbing, the Chinese A-lister who's starred in Hollywood franchises such as "X-Men" and "Iron Man," has not been seen publicly since early July, shortly after she found herself at the center of a tax probe.

Fan's name has been expunged from posters for her forthcoming movie with Bruce Willis, a Chinese production known in English as "Unbreakable Spirit." The release date for the film has been pushed back from August to October, while the release of a second film featuring the star has been on hold since June, according to reports from The New York Times.

The once prolific social media user has disappeared online too. Fan has been silent among her 62 million followers on Weibo, China's version of , since July 26, when she liked a number of post. Her last posts on Instagram, meanwhile, were back in mid-May.

The star's disappearance coincides with recent reports that she was being investigated over tax evasion in the film industry.