Chifeng Gold Earns Over 3 Billion Annually, Yet Billion-Dollar Widow Must Divest?

Radar Finance Production | Text by Peng Cheng | Edited by Meng Shuai

After her husband passed away and she became the actual controller of a listed company for many years, Li Jinyang, with a net worth of 13 billion yuan, now intends to transfer her “golden empire” to others.

According to an announcement released by Chifeng Gold on March 19, Li Jinyang and her concerted parties are planning to transfer their shares in the company, which may lead to a change in the company’s actual controlling shareholder.

Rewinding to December 2021, Zhao Meiguang, the founder of Chifeng Gold, passed away due to illness. According to his will, all his estate was inherited by his spouse, Li Jinyang.

However, after becoming the actual controller, Li Jinyang did not take a public role. She explicitly stated she would not participate in the company’s daily management and would fully support the management team led by Chairman Wang Jianhua.

Under Wang Jianhua, a seasoned industry veteran who previously led Shandong Gold and Zijin Mining, Chifeng Gold just delivered its best-ever performance in history.

By 2025, the company’s revenue exceeded 12 billion yuan, a 40.03% increase year-over-year; net profit attributable to shareholders surged by 74.7%, reaching a new high of 3.082 billion yuan.

However, behind these impressive figures, concerns remain. In 2025, the company’s total gold production was 14.4 tons, falling short of the previously set target of 16 tons.

Additionally, because Chifeng Gold’s performance and stock price are sensitive to gold price fluctuations, the company faces a series of related risks and challenges.

With a market value close to 80 billion yuan, is Chifeng Gold about to change hands?

According to an announcement from Chifeng Gold on March 19, the company received notice on the evening of March 18 from its controlling shareholder and actual controller, Li Jinyang, that she and her concerted parties are planning to transfer their shares, which may result in a change of the company’s actual controlling shareholder.

Since the matter is still under negotiation and there is uncertainty, to ensure fair disclosure, protect investors’ interests, and prevent abnormal fluctuations in the company’s stock price, the company applied to the Shanghai Stock Exchange for a trading halt. Trading will be suspended from the market opening on March 19, for an estimated period of no more than five trading days.

Chifeng Gold stated that during the suspension, the company will strictly follow relevant regulations and requirements to disclose information based on the progress of the matter. Once the details are confirmed, the company will promptly release an announcement and apply to resume trading.

On the same day, Chifeng Gold also disclosed a notice on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange stating that its H-shares will cease trading from 9 a.m. that morning, pending the publication of a notice regarding its largest shareholder potentially selling shares.

On the last trading day before suspension, the closing price of Chifeng Gold’s A-shares was 40.82 yuan per share, with a market value of 77.575 billion yuan.

Notably, just before the suspension on March 4, Li Jinyang was notified that she had extended the repurchase of some pledged shares through a stock pledge repurchase transaction.

After completing this stock pledge repurchase extension, Li Jinyang and her concerted parties pledged 27.78% and 17.82% of their holdings, respectively, accounting for 2.78% and 0.48% of the company’s total share capital.

According to a disclosure from Chifeng Gold at that time, as of March 4, 2026, Li Jinyang directly held 190 million shares, representing 10.02% of the total; her concerted party, Hanfeng Venture Capital, held about 51.52 million shares, or 2.71%. Together, they held 12.73% of the company.

Radar Finance notes that as early as 2021, after becoming the actual controller of Chifeng Gold, Li Jinyang transferred 3.09% of the company’s shares through block trades between December 30, 2021, and March 31, 2022.

In March 2022, Li Jinyang signed a “Share Transfer Agreement” with Huaneng Guicheng, proposing to transfer 5.77% of the company’s shares via agreement to Yuanhe No. 5.

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

Subsequently, because the transfer conditions were not met within the agreed period, the two parties mutually agreed to terminate the agreement in November 2022.

Billionaire Widow Retreats Behind the Scenes, Wang Jianhua Takes Control of the “Gold Empire”

The rise of Chifeng Gold is inseparable from its founder, Zhao Meiguang. The mineral magnate from Jilin, who made his fortune, injected his controlled company, Chifeng Jilong Mining Co., Ltd., into “ST Baolong” through a backdoor listing at the end of 2012.

In the Hurun Research Institute’s “2021 Hurun Rich List,” Zhao Meiguang and Li Jinyang ranked again with a combined wealth of 8.8 billion yuan.

However, misfortune struck that same year in December, when Zhao Meiguang, aged only 59, died of illness. According to his will, all his personal estate was inherited solely by his spouse, Li Jinyang.

Overnight, Li Jinyang, under 40, became the de facto controller of this expanding enterprise.

Unlike many family succession stories, after Zhao’s death, Li Jinyang explicitly stated she would not hold a position in the company.

She also wrote to the board, saying she would fully cooperate with the management team. The current chairman, Wang Jianhua, is the person Li Jinyang entrusted with the company’s future.

Radar Finance learned that Wang Jianhua has a rich professional background, having served as General Manager and Party Secretary of Shandong Silk Import & Export Corporation; Chairman and Party Secretary of Shandong Gold Group; Director and President of Zijin Mining Group; and Chairman of Yunnan Baiyao Holdings.

In September 2018, Wang Jianhua joined Chifeng Gold as a director; since December 2019, he has served as Executive Director and Chairman.

During his tenure at Shandong Gold, Zijin Mining, and Chifeng Gold, the resource reserves and reserves of these mining groups increased significantly.

Notably, in November 2020, Zhao Meiguang transferred 98.17 million shares of Chifeng Gold to Wang Jianhua, totaling 1.669 billion yuan.

The addition of a professional manager has sharpened Chifeng Gold’s focus. The company’s overall development strategy shifted from “mining-centered” in 2019 to “gold-centered” in 2020.

According to the latest annual report, as of the end of 2025, Wang Jianhua directly held about 74.2 million A-shares, accounting for 3.9% of the total, making him the second-largest individual shareholder after Li Jinyang.

In 2025, Wang Jianhua received a total compensation of 6.494 million yuan from Chifeng Gold.

In the recent “2026 Hurun Global Rich List” released in early March, Li Jinyang, who holds no operational role in Chifeng Gold, has seen her net worth rise to 13 billion yuan.

Tianyancha shows that Li Jinyang remains the actual controller of Chifeng Gold, but she is now attempting to withdraw from the company.

Record-High Performance, but Full-Year Gold Production Falls Short of Target

As a rapidly growing international gold producer, Chifeng Gold has focused on core gold mining and processing, deploying multiple high-quality mines worldwide, with continuous performance growth in recent years.

From the financial reports, this is undoubtedly a “golden moment” in the company’s history. According to the latest 2025 annual report, the company achieved revenue of 12.639 billion yuan, a 40% increase year-over-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 3.082 billion yuan, up 74.7%.

The growth in performance is closely related to last year’s historic bull market in gold.

Earlier, the company had announced that its main gold product sales prices in 2025 increased by approximately 49% year-over-year, and profitability of domestic and foreign mines significantly improved.

Meanwhile, net cash flow from operating activities increased from 3.268 billion yuan in 2024 to 5.556 billion yuan, a 69.97% rise.

Additionally, the company’s financial structure improved further. As of the end of 2025, the asset-liability ratio was 33.91%, down 13.34 percentage points from the beginning of the year; interest-bearing debt was about 878 million yuan, down 67.45% from the start of the year.

However, behind these impressive figures, risks remain. In the mid-2025 interim report, Chifeng Gold lowered its gold production target for 2025 from 16.7 tons to 16 tons, expressing confidence in meeting the goal during investor communications.

But in the January 2026 performance forecast, the company set its actual annual production at only 14.4 tons, just 90% of the target.

Radar Finance notes that according to the third employee stock ownership plan, if the unlocking conditions are met (specifically, “company’s gold production in 2025 increases by 5% or more year-over-year”), the beneficiaries can apply for unlocking all granted shares on February 24, 2026.

However, the annual report states that because the 2025 gold production growth was less than 5%, the unlocking conditions were not satisfied, and no equity-based share-based payment expenses were recognized this year.

Chifeng Gold disclosed that its 2026 gold production target is 14.7 tons, with 11,000 tons of electrolytic copper. The company will focus on safety, increasing production and reserves, and improving quality and efficiency throughout the year.

The company also considers 2026 a critical year for strategic breakthroughs, laying the foundation for a production leap from 2028 to 2030.

Furthermore, the company’s performance and stock price are highly dependent on gold prices, which introduces additional operational and valuation risks.

According to Huaxia Times, on March 19, influenced by the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy decision and other factors, the global non-ferrous metals market plummeted. The A-share non-ferrous metals sector also declined sharply, with major funds net outflows. Companies like Zijin Mining and Jiangxi Copper led the decline, with precious metals stocks falling 6%–8%.

As of 11:09 a.m. on March 20 (intraday), the A-share non-ferrous metals sector showed a slight rebound with some differentiation, with the CSI Shenwan Nonferrous Metals Index at 9,476.66 points, up 0.14%.

Industry analysts believe that the Fed’s continued pause and hawkish signals have significantly reduced market expectations for rate cuts, combined with subdued geopolitical risk premiums, leading to overseas capital withdrawal and cautious sentiment. The non-ferrous metals sector has experienced a pattern of rise and fall with internal divergence this year, with short-term market sentiment turning cautious.

Further, they note that although long-term central bank gold purchases and de-dollarization trends remain, current risk sentiment dominates, and precious and industrial metals face short-term adjustment pressures.

Radar Finance also notes that Chifeng Gold stated in its financial reports that prices of gold and electrolytic copper are affected by global supply and demand, geopolitical issues, monetary policies, inflation, and exchange rates, leading to significant volatility that directly impacts profitability and cash flow stability. Rising energy and raw material costs further squeeze profit margins.

In response, the company plans to: adhere to cost control and efficiency enhancement, expand production, optimize technology, and manage costs through measures like capacity expansion, centralized procurement, intelligent upgrades, and management improvements. It also intends to use financial hedging tools to manage commodity price risks, aiming to stabilize operations and performance.

As the company’s control rights may change hands in the future, this adds new uncertainties to its development.

What direction will this “golden giant” take on its future voyage? Radar Finance will continue to monitor.