Nearly 80 Billion Yuan Market Cap: Chifeng Gold May Change Hands, 43-Year-Old Founder's Widow Makes Swift Exit

This article is from 21st Century Business Herald, author: Dong Peng

Chifeng Gold, which has achieved record-high operating performance, its actual controller has suddenly chosen to retreat abruptly.

On March 19, Chifeng Gold suspended trading. The company announced the previous evening that Li Jinyang and its concerted parties are planning to transfer their holdings of the company’s shares, which may lead to a change in the company’s actual control.

Li Jinyang, 43 years old, is the widow of Zhao Meiguang, the founder of Chifeng Gold. Both are from Jilin City, Jilin Province. In December 2021, after Zhao Meiguang passed away due to illness, he left all his inheritance to Li Jinyang, including his shares in Chifeng Gold.

As of the end of Q3 2025, Li Jinyang and her concerted parties hold 12.73% of Chifeng Gold’s shares. Before trading suspension, the company’s total market value reached 77.6 billion yuan. Based on the closing price, the total value of these shares was approximately 9.87 billion yuan.

If Li Jinyang transfers all her shares and considering the premium for control acquisition, the transfer could likely exceed 100 billion yuan.

On the day of suspension, a reporter from 21st Century Business Herald contacted the company as an investor. A Chifeng Gold representative responded, “The company is also waiting for shareholder notification. If there is clear progress in the relevant transaction, the company will disclose more details in subsequent announcements.”

In fact, without considering external financing, there are only a few domestic mining companies capable of acquiring such a hundred-billion-scale stake, including Zijin Mining, Shandong Gold, China Gold Group, Luoyang Molybdenum, and a few other top-tier companies.

Some of these companies have explicitly focused on gold assets for mergers and acquisitions, and there have been large external M&A deals exceeding 10 billion yuan in recent years.

The Founder’s “Legacy”

The founder of Chifeng Gold is Zhao Meiguang. In the early days, he gradually built a leading gold enterprise by acquiring bankrupt silver and gold mines.

In December 2012, Zhao Meiguang injected Chifeng Jilong Mining (the core entity of Chifeng Gold) into the A-share company Dongfang Baolong (ST Baolong) for a backdoor listing. The listed company was renamed Chifeng Gold.

Subsequently, the company completed acquisitions of Liaoning Wulong Gold Mine and Xiongfeng Environmental Protection, beginning to involve in non-ferrous metal recycling and multi-metal mines. However, these only contributed to the company’s scale growth, with the most profitable business still being gold products.

Around 2019, the company’s internal governance and strategic direction changed.

Wang Jianhua, who previously served as Chairman of Shandong Gold Group and President of Zijin Mining, joined Chifeng Gold in September 2018 and became Chairman in December 2019.

The addition of a professional management team made Chifeng Gold’s business more focused. The overall development strategy shifted from “mainly mining” in 2019 to “mainly gold” in 2020.

On December 11, 2021, Zhao Meiguang passed away at age 59. According to her will, all her personal inheritance was inherited solely by her spouse, Li Jinyang, making him the new actual controller.

The next day, Li Jinyang wrote to the board of Chifeng Gold, pledging full cooperation with Chairman Wang Jianhua and the management team, aligning with the company’s strategic development plan, and safeguarding the company’s growth.

Under Wang Jianhua’s leadership, over the past few years, Chifeng Gold has promoted internal technological upgrades and capacity expansion while increasing overseas resource acquisitions.

Historical data shows that in 2019, Chifeng Gold’s gold production was 2.07 tons, which increased to 15.16 tons by 2024.

As production increased and gold prices rose, the company’s operating performance exploded, reaching heights even Zhao Meiguang had not achieved.

According to performance forecasts, in 2025, Chifeng Gold’s net profit is expected to reach 3 to 3.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 70% to 81%, setting a new profit record.

Moreover, Chifeng Gold led Zijin Gold International in 2025 March to complete a “value revaluation” through H-share listing, with a 118% increase that year.

Chifeng Gold previously stated that it has established a high-quality financial structure of “low-interest debt + strong cash flow,” with interest-bearing debt remaining at a low level globally, significantly reducing interest expenses, and maintaining ample cash flow.

Data from periodic reports also show that as of the end of Q3 2025, Chifeng Gold’s asset-liability ratio was only 33.58%, also at a relatively low level among mining companies.

Overall, after Wang Jianhua’s restructuring, Chifeng Gold has become a large-scale mining company with highly concentrated operations in the mineral sector, good operational safety margins, and initial steps toward internationalization.

However, the potential change in control rights in the future introduces new uncertainties for the company’s subsequent development.

Li Jinyang’s Intent to Withdraw

More equity doesn’t fill the stomach; real cash is more attractive.

From the beginning of inheriting shares, Li Jinyang has shown a strong desire to exit. Just three months after becoming the actual controller, in March 2022, Li Jinyang signed a share transfer agreement with Huaneng Trust’s Yuanhe No. 5 Collective Capital Trust Plan, planning to transfer 5.77% of the company’s shares at 16.79 yuan per share.

At that time, Li Jinyang explained, “To further implement the strategic goal of optimizing the company’s equity structure, introduce strong investors, and raise funds to repay debts.”

Public records show that as of the end of March 2022, Li Jinyang’s holdings in Chifeng Gold were not pledged.

Later, due to not meeting transfer conditions within the agreed period, both parties agreed to terminate the transfer agreement in November 2022.

Interestingly, after the transfer failed, Li Jinyang shifted from selling to buying.

In December 2022, Zhao Meiguang’s two sisters, Zhao Guixiang and Zhao Guiyuan, transferred all their minority shares in Chifeng Gold to Li Jinyang via block trade.

At that time, gold spot prices in London were only around $1,800 per ounce, and the average transfer price of Zhao Guixiang and Zhao Guiyuan’s shares was just 18.64 yuan per share.

Subsequently, international gold prices began rising for three consecutive years. Although Chifeng Gold’s operational data showed significant growth, its stock price in 2023 and 2024 did not rise noticeably and even declined slightly compared to late 2022.

Only in 2025, when international gold prices surged and attracted widespread attention, did Chifeng Gold’s stock price double, reaching a peak of 51.5 yuan.

This provided Li Jinyang, who had long been considering withdrawal, with a good opportunity.

Additionally, recent high fluctuations in international gold prices caused Chifeng Gold’s stock price to retreat nearly 20% from previous highs. Li Jinyang, who has never held a position in the listed company, chose to exit again.

It’s worth noting that without transferring shares, it would be difficult for Li Jinyang to obtain more cash from the listed company.

Wind data shows that in 2017, Chifeng Gold’s undistributed profit turned positive, and since 2019, the company has been profitable. Since listing, the company has achieved a total net profit of 7.702 billion yuan, but total cash dividends amount to only 387 million yuan, mainly in 2023 and 2024.

Compared to the company’s current net profit, the total cash dividends in 2023 and 2024 only accounted for about 10.25% and 17.23%, respectively.

This is also related to the industry characteristics of mining companies, which are essentially “investment companies” that require large capital for resource mergers and project development.

Especially during rapid expansion phases, mining companies often feel their funds are insufficient.

New Candidate for the “Main Person”

Unlike in 2022, this time Li Jinyang’s share transfer directly involves a change of control, and the scale is likely to exceed the previous one.

As of the end of Q3 2025, Li Jinyang directly held 1.9 billion shares of Chifeng Gold, and through Zhejiang Hanfeng Venture Capital (99% owned by Li Jinyang), indirectly held 520 million shares, totaling 2.42 billion shares, representing 12.73% of the company.

Based on the pre-suspension closing price of 40.82 yuan per share, the total value of these shares was approximately 98.75 billion yuan.

Generally, when major shareholders transfer shares involving control change, a premium of 10% to 20% or more is common.

This means that if Li Jinyang transfers all his shares, the transaction could exceed 100 billion yuan. Few gold mining companies have the capacity to acquire such a stake.

For example, in 2024, Chifeng Gold’s mineral gold production reached 15.16 tons, ranking fifth nationwide.

The companies with higher production than Chifeng Gold include Zijin Mining (72.94 tons), Shandong Gold (46.17 tons), China Gold Group (18.35 tons), and Zhaojin Mining (18.34 tons).

These companies generally have strong payment capabilities and ambitions for expansion.

For instance, Zijin Mining invested 13.7 billion yuan in 2025 to acquire control of Zangge Mining, and announced in January this year a roughly 28 billion yuan acquisition of Canadian gold company United Gold.

With its original target of 100–110 tons/year of mineral gold likely to be achieved ahead of schedule this year, Zijin has further raised its 2028 production target to 130–140 tons.

Since 2015, Zijin’s overall capitalization has accelerated significantly, with its overseas gold assets spun off into Hong Kong-listed companies, achieving great success in value revaluation. Its domestic gold assets, however, have no publicized capital operation plans.

Shandong Gold and China Gold Group have also set clear future production targets, with China Gold Group’s mineral gold growth expectations being the strongest.

According to China Mining News, at the January 21, 2025, China Gold Group’s 2026 work conference, the goal is to achieve “tripling and tripling again” by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan. “Tripling and tripling again” refers to quadrupling mineral gold production, doubling copper production, and doubling per capita income.

Besides these leading gold mining companies, rapidly growing private mining firms active in mergers and acquisitions in recent years may also be involved.

For example, Luoyang Molybdenum, which spent 10.145 billion yuan in 2025 to acquire multiple South American gold mines, has clearly adopted a resource acquisition strategy focused on copper and gold.

Similarly, Zhongda Mining, which operates in Inner Mongolia like Chifeng Gold, has less financial strength but has been active in M&A markets in recent years. Between 2022 and 2023, it invested a total of 8.1 billion yuan in lithium projects in Malkang, Sichuan, and Chijiashan, Hunan, and its actual controller even made small investments in catering company Xibei.

Of course, whether Li Jinyang’s share transfer will ultimately succeed, how much will be transferred, and which leading mining or non-industry companies will take over remain highly uncertain.

Who will become the new owner of Chifeng Gold? The answer depends on subsequent announcements from the listed company, and if the actions are swift, the outcome may be known as early as next week.