Police in Shanghai say they have detained a suspect in the death by possible poisoning of the billionaire founder of a Chinese video game company that makes films based on the popular science fiction novel The Three-Body Problem.

Lin Qi, 39, died on Christmas Day after being taken to hospital, according to his company, Yoozoo Games, also known as Youzu Interactive.

A police statement said a 39-year-old co-worker, identified only by the surname Xu, had been detained.

The statement said Mr Lin was taken to hospital on December 17 and diagnosed with possible poisoning.

Business magazine Caixin, citing unidentified industry sources, said the suspect is an employee of Yoozoo’s film division and was working on The Three-Body Problem for Netflix.

Yoozoo also is know for Game Of Thrones: Winter Is Coming – a video game based on the popular TV series.

Mr Lin ranked number 870 among China’s richest entrepreneurs with a net worth of 6.8 billion yuan (£770 million), according to Hurun Report.