63-Year-Old Former Richest Man in Jiangsu, 200 Billion Wiped Out in Tragic Collapse

Author’s Statement: This article was created with AI assistance.

The 238.7 billion yuan debt has been settled, and Zhang Jindong, who occupied Jiangsu’s richest man position for seven years, has officially concluded his reign.

At 63 years old, Zhang Jindong has once again embarked on the long road of debt repayment.

On January 4, 2026, winter fog in Nanjing, carrying the chill of the Qinhuai River, drifted into the courtroom of the Intermediate People’s Court of Jiangsu Province.

When the gavel fell, a civil ruling approving the restructuring plan for Suning Appliance Group and 37 other companies marked a milestone for Zhang Jindong’s retail empire.

With a total debt of 238.73 billion yuan, a liquidation asset value of 41.005 billion yuan, 3,105 creditors eagerly awaiting repayment, and the founder Zhang Jindong risking his entire personal wealth, the stage was set.

“My life’s work has been retail,” Zhang Jindong said slowly to a dozen core team members during a internal meeting five months ago, his hair already streaked with gray. “I have feelings for Suning and retail. I won’t give up easily. As long as there’s a glimmer of hope, I will persist to the end.”

Now, this “persistence” has transformed into his ultimate responsibility for the 238.7 billion yuan debt—voluntarily transferring shareholder rights, injecting personal assets into the restructuring trust in full, and assuming joint liability as a subordinate creditor until all creditors are fully repaid.

This is not the hasty exit of a business mogul, but a tragic curtain call of an era-defining entrepreneur. From a 200-square-meter air-conditioned shop on Ninghai Road in Nanjing to a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue exceeding 250 billion yuan.

From the bold declaration of “making China’s Walmart + Amazon,” to the desperate gamble of “paying off debts with personal assets,” the court’s ruling has brought the curtain down on Zhang Jindong’s thirty-year retail empire in China.

1

In 1990, at age 26, Zhang Jindong resigned from a stable job at the Gulou District Industrial Corporation in Nanjing, using 100,000 yuan of savings to open a small shop called “Suning Electronics” on Ninghai Road.

At that time, China’s home appliance market was monopolized by state-run stores. Zhang Jindong used a combination of “affordable prices + free installation” to carve out a niche.

“There was no grand strategy back then; I just wanted ordinary people to afford air conditioners and use them with confidence.”

Years later, in an interview, Zhang Jindong still remembered the hardships of early entrepreneurship: “Delivering in summer, riding a tricycle, under forty-degree heat, drenched in sweat after each trip.”

This pragmatic and resilient spirit helped Suning quickly establish a foothold in Nanjing.

In 1999, as the internet wave was rising, Zhang Jindong made a decisive move: abandoning wholesale business and fully transforming into a chain retailer.

“Either transform or be eliminated,” he told employees firmly at that year’s annual meeting. “The future of retail is in chains, nationwide.”

Over the next decade, Suning embarked on a rapid expansion using a “lease-build-acquire” strategy.

From Nanjing to Beijing, from the eastern coast to the western inland, Suning stores sprouted across the country.

In 2004, Suning.com was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, raising nearly 1.2 billion yuan to fuel expansion.

By 2010, Suning’s store count exceeded 1,000, and revenue surpassed 100 billion yuan for the first time, officially joining the “trillion-yuan club.” That year, Zhang Jindong’s personal wealth reached 45 billion yuan, making him Jiangsu’s richest man.

“Suning aims to be China’s Walmart + Amazon,” Zhang Jindong declared at the 2015 founding conference of Suning Holdings Group, standing on stage before thousands of employees and partners, delivering a thunderous proclamation.

At that time, e-commerce giants JD.com and Tmall were waging price wars, and offline retail faced a harsh winter. Zhang Jindong sought to create an all-encompassing business empire through “online-offline integration” in smart retail.

To achieve this, he began a high-stakes series of mergers and acquisitions.

The aggressive expansion caused Suning’s debt to soar.

In 2015, Suning’s total liabilities were about 80 billion yuan; by 2020, this figure had skyrocketed to 300 billion yuan, with only 24.8 billion yuan in cash on hand.

The debt-to-asset ratio exceeded 89%, with current liabilities reaching 84.6 billion yuan. Suning’s cash flow was stretched to the limit.

“At that time, we were like a rider on a fast horse, only focused on moving forward, forgetting to check the horse’s stamina,” said a senior executive involved in Suning’s strategic planning. “Mr. Zhang was eager to win, to build a business empire, but he overlooked the risks accumulating.”

2

In September 2020, a report titled “Evergrande Group’s Support for Major Asset Restructuring Project” caused a stir in the capital markets.

The report mentioned that Evergrande had attracted 130 billion yuan in strategic investments, with Suning contributing 20 billion yuan, making it the largest strategic investor.

“This is a guaranteed profitable deal,” Zhang Jindong insisted at the board meeting, dismissing opposition. He believed that his long-standing relationship with Hui Ka-yan and Evergrande’s strength would provide crucial “lifelines” for Suning.

But reality struck hard.

In November 2020, Evergrande’s debt crisis erupted, and its repurchase commitments collapsed. Suning’s 20 billion yuan investment was ultimately converted into Evergrande property shares, plunging into an indefinite wait.

Adding to the woes, in 2020, COVID-19 suddenly hit, forcing offline stores to shut down nationwide. Suning’s revenue was severely impacted, and for the first time, it posted an annual loss of 4.275 billion yuan.

In 2021, Suning’s debt crisis became public.

In February 2021, Suning’s private bonds issued via financial apps defaulted. In March, the “16 Suning 02” bond failed to pay on time, and was deferred for two years.

Multiple bond defaults followed, financing channels shrank, banks withdrew credit, and suppliers pressed for payments. Suning’s cash flow was completely broken.

“During that period, Mr. Zhang was receiving dozens of collection calls every day, from 8 a.m. to midnight, with no break,” said a close associate. “His hair turned gray very fast. Sometimes he would sit in his office for half a day without saying a word.”

In December 2021, on Suning’s 31st anniversary, Zhang Jindong issued a letter to all staff, publicly acknowledging the group’s debt problems for the first time, stating that “a phased stabilization has been achieved.”

He wrote in the letter: “No matter how long the road, there is an end; no matter how long the night, there is dawn. We must stay confident and keep moving forward, grounded and steady.”

After nearly 30 years of development, Suning had grown into a company with deep roots and rich experience. With support from government and society, as long as all employees never give up and unite, dawn will eventually break after the darkness.

To save himself, Zhang Jindong began “amputating to survive.”

In 2021, he sold his Alibaba shares for 14 billion yuan, transferred Suning Financial’s equity for 10 billion yuan, and divested non-core assets like Tmall Express and PPTV, raising over 20 billion yuan. But these funds were mere drops in the bucket compared to the hundreds of billions owed.

From 2022 to 2024, Suning’s rescue journey was fraught with setbacks and helplessness.

Stores were closed en masse, shrinking from a peak of 12,000 to fewer than 3,000. Acquisitions like Carrefour China and Wanda Department Stores were sold at low prices, some even for “one yuan.”

“Spending recklessly when rich, only remembering core business when short of money,” was a sharp critique from outside.

Zhang Jindong also gradually realized the harsh reality through repeated “amputations.”

By 2024, Suning.com’s revenue fell below 40 billion yuan, down over 60% year-on-year; net profit attributable to parent was a loss of over 5 billion yuan. Suning Appliance Group had been insolvent for four consecutive years, with cumulative losses nearing 30 billion yuan.

On January 17, 2025, Neijiang Jinhua Logistics applied to Nanjing Intermediate Court for restructuring of Suning Appliance Group and 37 other companies.

The reason was that these companies’ assets, finances, and operations were highly intertwined, making a substantive merger and restructuring feasible.

That day, Zhang Jindong had waited four years and feared four years.

3

When the court’s acceptance notice was delivered to Suning’s headquarters, the veteran retail entrepreneur finally bowed his head.

On April 8, 2025, Nanjing Intermediate Court ruled to implement a substantive merger and restructuring of Suning Appliance Group and 37 other companies. Audits showed total claims of 2,387.3 billion yuan, with assets only worth 410.05 billion yuan.

If directly liquidated, ordinary creditors would recover only about 3.5 yuan per 100 yuan lent. This would cause catastrophic losses to over 3,105 creditors, mostly small suppliers and upstream/downstream companies, risking a collapse of the entire retail supply chain.

“Liquidation is not the way out; only restructuring can preserve Suning’s ‘spark,’ and give creditors an explanation,” Zhang Jindong said publicly at the first creditors’ meeting, bowing deeply before hundreds of creditors. “I am sorry to everyone. It was my misjudgment that led Suning to this point. But I promise, I will spend my life repaying this debt.”

To push forward with the restructuring, Zhang Jindong made a nearly desperate decision: “paying off debts with personal assets.”

According to the initial restructuring plan, Zhang Jindong and other external shareholders would transfer their rights free of charge into a restructuring trust.

He and his wife Liu Yuping also pledged to fully inject all personal assets—including real estate, cash, financial assets, and 16.4 billion shares of Suning.com (worth about 2.886 billion yuan)—into the trust within three months of its establishment.

This decision was extremely rare in China’s large-scale corporate debt restructuring cases.

Following the “priority of creditor repayment over equity,” Zhang Jindong and his family would be in the subordinate class of the trust, only receiving any benefits after all senior and general creditors were satisfied.

“This is like betting everything on Suning’s rebirth,” said a lawyer involved in designing the restructuring plan. “If the restructuring fails, he will have nothing left, and may even be burdened with lifelong debt.”

However, this plan was not accepted by all creditors. Small and medium creditors worried that the trust’s long repayment cycle and uncertain returns were risky. Large financial creditors believed Zhang Jindong’s personal assets were insufficient to cover all debts and demanded additional guarantees.

Over the following six months, Zhang Jindong engaged in a tough negotiation with creditors. He held more than ten meetings, personally visited major financial institutions like CITIC Financial Assets and Orient Asset, seeking support, and even voluntarily reduced his influence in the post-restructuring company to gain creditor support.

“During that time, Mr. Zhang lost more than twenty pounds,” said someone close. “He was racing against time, trying to modify the restructuring plan while stabilizing Suning’s operations. Any mistake could ruin everything.”

From October to December 2025, the voting period for the restructuring plan was postponed three times. Each delay increased the pressure on Zhang Jindong. But he never gave up. In an internal meeting, he told the core team: “I know everyone is exhausted and confused. But we can’t give up. Suning is not only my passion but also the livelihood of tens of thousands of employees and the hope of thousands of suppliers. As long as there’s a glimmer of hope, we must do our best.”

On December 14, 2025, the final vote on the restructuring plan for Suning’s 38 companies was held. The results showed that 92.3% of creditors present approved the plan, representing 87.5% of the total debt, exceeding the legal threshold of “more than half of creditors and two-thirds of debt.”

On January 4, 2026, Nanjing Court approved the restructuring plan and terminated the substantive merger process. Simultaneously, the 8 billion yuan of “common benefit bonds” jointly issued by CITIC and Orient Asset was approved by the court.

This bond was designated for ongoing projects in Nanjing and Anhui, marking Suning’s rebirth’s “first pot of gold.” The “equity adjustment + restructuring trust + common benefit bonds” model also pioneered large-scale “debt retention and industry retention” restructuring in China.

The plan stipulated that Suning Appliance Group and Suning Holdings Group’s 100% equity would be fully injected into the restructuring service trust, including the 1.4% and 2.75% shares of Suning.com they held.

The restructuring period was set for 36 months, during which these shares could not be disposed of.

For creditors, the plan adopted a “classified approach”: ordinary claims below 100,000 yuan, secured claims below 1 million yuan, and tax claims would be prioritized for cash repayment. Large claims would be converted into trust shares, with recovery gradually achieved through asset operation income.

Although Zhang Jindong’s shareholder rights were wiped out, he retained nomination rights on the boards of the new Suning Group and Nanjing Zhongcheng Asset Management (responsible for asset disposal)—holding five of nine seats on the new Suning’s board and four of nine on Zhongcheng’s.

This “separation of control and residual rights” tightly linked Zhang Jindong’s fate with Suning’s rebirth.

Today’s Suning has long lost its former glory, and Zhang Jindong now lives a very different life.

He no longer participates in daily operations but focuses mainly on asset management and disposal within the restructuring trust. His daily routine involves reviewing asset disposal reports, communicating with trust companies, and tracking the progress of the common benefit bonds.

“He’s very calm now, no longer impulsive or boastful,” said someone close. “Sometimes he visits stores, chats with staff, and asks customers about their needs. He now seems more like a ‘retail veteran,’ just wanting to do every small thing well.”

In February 2026, at a retail industry summit, Zhang Jindong made his first public appearance since the restructuring. Reflecting on his experience, he said: “I’ve had glory and failure in my life. When I was successful, I thought I could build a business empire; when I failed, I realized that respecting the market and understanding risks are the most basic qualities of an entrepreneur.”

“I once said retail is a marathon with no finish line. Now I understand that this marathon requires not only speed but endurance; not only charging forward but also perseverance. I’ve run the first half in thirty years. Though I fell, I have no regrets.”

Regardless, Zhang Jindong’s name will forever be etched in the history of China’s retail industry.

Retail is a marathon with no end. Zhang Jindong’s first half has concluded; Suning’s second half is just beginning. For him, this is an ultimate curtain call; for Suning, a rebirth from the ashes.