Actual controller detained before the Spring Festival, this fund company's "problematic shareholder" issue remains unresolved

China Securities Journal, February 19 (Reporter Feng Qijuan) — As part of the “Dongxu Group” capital landscape, whether Jinying Fund will be affected by shareholder-related events has always been a focus within the industry.

Just before the Spring Festival, listed company Jialin Jie announced that on February 13, it received notice from Dongxu Group Co., Ltd. that its actual controller, Li Zhaoting, had been detained by the Shijiazhuang Public Security Bureau, and the related case is under investigation. The announcement emphasized that Li Zhaoting, aside from being the company’s actual controller, does not hold any position within the company. The company’s directors and senior management are performing their duties normally, and the company’s production and operations are proceeding as usual. The above matters will not have a significant impact on the company’s normal production and operations.

In reality, issues involving the “Dongxu Group” and Li Zhaoting are far from being masked by a simple statement of “normal production and operation.”

Li Zhaoting, once dubbed the “Former richest man in Shijiazhuang,” was at his peak the actual controller of three listed companies: Dongxu Optoelectronics, Dongxu Blue Sky, and Jialin Jie. He also obtained a public offering license through Dongxu Group, becoming the actual controller of Jinying Fund.

Prior to his detention, Li Zhaoting and the “Dongxu Group” had already been deeply embroiled in regulatory penalties.

According to a June 2025 penalty notice from the Hebei Securities Regulatory Bureau, Li Zhaoting has been subjected to a lifetime securities market ban. Under regulatory rules, Li Zhaoting is no longer qualified to serve as the actual controller of Jinying Fund. However, publicly available information shows that, to date, the equity held by Dongxu Group in Jinying Fund has been judicially frozen multiple times by the courts. Coupled with massive debt disputes, there has been no substantial progress disclosed regarding the exit of the actual controller or the disposal of equity, and the process may have stalled.

Fraudulent issuance, financial falsification, and disqualification of the actual controller

According to the China Securities Regulatory Commission, on March 28 last year, the Hebei Securities Regulatory Bureau issued an administrative penalty notice regarding securities violations by delisted Dongxu Optoelectronics and its controlling shareholder Dongxu Group (bond issuer) and related entities; on the same day, the Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau also issued a notice of administrative penalties for securities violations involving Dongxu Blue Sky and other related entities.

Investigation found that the relevant entities committed multiple major violations, including fraudulent issuance, hundreds of billions of yuan in financial falsification, and hundreds of billions of yuan in capital occupation:

1. In 2017, Dongxu Optoelectronics failed to meet the conditions for stock issuance but obtained approval through deception, illegally raising 7.565 billion yuan; in 2018, Dongxu Group also failed to meet bond issuance conditions but obtained approval through deception, illegally raising 3.5 billion yuan.

2. From 2015 to 2019, Dongxu Group artificially inflated revenue by a total of 47.825 billion yuan, inflated profits by 13.01 billion yuan, and increased monetary funds by 44.79 billion yuan (highest); Dongxu Optoelectronics inflated revenue by 16.76 billion yuan and profits by 5.627 billion yuan.

3. Dongxu Group and related entities non-operationally occupied funds of Dongxu Optoelectronics and Dongxu Blue Sky, with undisclosed amounts totaling 16.959 billion yuan to date.

4. Dongxu Optoelectronics and Dongxu Blue Sky failed to disclose their 2023 annual reports on time.

The announcement states that the Hebei and Shenzhen securities regulators plan to impose fines totaling 1.7 billion yuan on 43 responsible entities, including Li Zhaoting, and that 19 key responsible personnel will face securities market bans of more than five years up to lifetime.

In June last year, Dongxu Optoelectronics announced that the company and its controlling shareholder, Dongxu Group, were fined a total of 1.662 billion yuan by the Hebei Securities Regulatory Bureau for violations including information disclosure breaches and fraudulent issuance. Several senior executives, including Li Zhaoting, received warnings, fines, and bans from the securities market ranging from 10 years to lifetime. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange also publicly reprimanded Dongxu Optoelectronics and imposed disciplinary sanctions on related parties.

Management changes after “Dongxu Group” took control

The management changes at Jinying Fund reflect some of these issues.

Chairman has had 8 successors. In June 2006, the first chairman, Wu Zhang, left after his term ended and due to work transfer, succeeded by Tan Sima. In August 2008, Tan Sima resigned due to work transfer. In September of the same year, Liang Weiwen served as acting chairman and officially took over three months later, holding the position until April 2010. Meanwhile, Liu Dong served as chairman until September 2014.

From September 2014 to January 2015, Liu Yan served as acting chairman. In January 2015, Ling Fuhua officially became chairman, but announced his departure in January 2018 due to work needs.

After Dongxu Group’s takeover, Li Zhaoting became the new chairman, serving until April 2020 when he left due to work arrangements. Wang Tie then took over as chairman but left in March 2022 for work reasons. Yao Wenqiang succeeded him and has held the position since.

General Managers have had 7 successors. In April 2005, the first general manager, Lin Jinteng, resigned, with Zhan Songmao acting temporarily. In September of that year, Zhan Songmao officially became general manager, serving until April 2010 when he left due to work transfer. Then Yin Kesheng became general manager but resigned in June 2014 for personal reasons, with sitting chairman Liu Dong acting as general manager temporarily.

In August 2014, Liu Yan was appointed general manager, and in December 2018, he resigned for personal reasons, with Li Zhaoting taking over. In March 2019, Liu Zhigang became the new general manager, but he left in January 2020 for personal reasons. Yao Wenqiang then served as acting general manager for two months before officially taking the role. In March 2022, Executive Vice President Zhou Wei was transferred to general manager and has held the position since.

Since 2019, the frequency of general manager changes at Jinying Fund has accelerated significantly, entering a period of high turnover.

The inspector has changed 9 times. In February 2006, the first inspector, Lu Zhigang, resigned due to personal reasons, succeeded by Zhu Jianbiao the following month. Zhu Jianbiao resigned in July 2007 for personal reasons, with Liu Ping taking over. Liu Ping also resigned in September 2008, and Su Wenfeng became inspector. Due to work needs, Su Wenfeng left in September 2017, replaced by Li Yunliang.

In August 2018, Deputy General Manager Zeng Changxing was transferred to inspector, but he left in September 2019 for personal reasons, succeeded by Xu Jiao Jiao. In February 2021, Xu Jiao Jiao resigned, with Yao Wenqiang acting as inspector. By late July 2021, Deputy General Manager Liu Sheng was transferred to inspector and has held the position since.

In March 2022, due to work arrangements, Liu Sheng was promoted from inspector to Vice President and Chief Information Officer, while Fan Xiangping succeeded as inspector and remains in that role.

As the primary responsible person for compliance and risk control in public funds, such frequent changes of inspectors are quite rare in the industry. Notably, from September 2017 to March 2022, over four and a half years, Jinying Fund experienced five inspectors, with an average tenure of only about 10 months.

What is the latest scale?

Founded in November 2002, Jinying Fund has experienced frequent management and shareholder changes over its more than 23 years of operation.

According to the 2013 annual report disclosed by Tianyancha, shareholders included Guangzhou Securities, Midea Electric, Dongya Lianfeng Investment, and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical (later renamed Baiyunshan).

In November 2017, the CSRC approved changes in shareholding and actual controller: Dongxu Group acquired 20% and 11% stakes in Jinying Fund from Midea Group and Dongya Lianfeng Investment respectively, and subscribed to new registered capital, with Li Zhaoting approved as the actual controller. After this change, the shareholding structure was Dongxu Group (66.19%), Yuexiu Capital (24.01%), and Baiyunshan (9.8%).

By the end of 2017, Midea Electric and Dongya Lianfeng Investment had exited as shareholders, with Dongxu Group becoming a new shareholder.

After CITIC Securities acquired Guangzhou Securities, the shareholding structure of Jinying Fund changed again. According to Tianyancha, currently, the shareholding is Dongxu Group (66.19%), Yuexiu Capital (24.01%), and Baiyunshan (9.8%).

How is the company’s operation? According to Wind data, as of the end of last year, Jinying Fund’s total asset management scale was 87.716 billion yuan, ranking 71st among 167 public fund institutions, an increase of 12.711 billion yuan from the previous quarter.

The growth in Q4 was mainly driven by the expansion of monetary funds, not by active management or equity products.

At the end of last year, the monetary fund scale was 41.421 billion yuan, accounting for 47.22%, an increase of 9.647 billion yuan (30.36%) from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the total equity fund scale was 17.315 billion yuan, accounting for only 19.14%, shrinking by 3.686 billion yuan (17.55%) compared to the previous quarter.