Founder's 42-Year-Old Widow to Sell 70 Billion "Golden Empire"

Source | Cailian Press

On the morning of March 19, with a total market value of 77.575 billion yuan, Chifeng Gold (600988.SH, 06693.HK) suspended trading of both A-shares and H-shares simultaneously.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange announced that trading of the company’s H-shares was halted from 9 a.m. that morning pending disclosure of information regarding the possible sale of shares by the company’s largest single shareholder.

Not long before this, Chifeng Gold also announced on the A-share market that the company was planning a change in control. Trading was suspended from the market open on March 19, with an expected suspension period of no more than five trading days.

The timing of this event is quite delicate: on one side, control may change hands; on the other, the company is about to disclose its 2025 performance and discuss dividends.

Behind the suspension, market attention has shifted from rapid performance growth to who will take over the control.

1

42-year-old founder’s widow plans to transfer control

The key figure in this control change is Li Jinyang, the current actual controller of Chifeng Gold.

The announcement shows that on the evening of March 18, 2026, Chifeng Gold received notice from its controlling shareholder and actual controller, Li Jinyang, that she and her concerted action partners are planning to transfer their holdings, which could lead to a change in the company’s actual control.

Chifeng Gold stated that the matter is still under negotiation and remains uncertain.

If the transaction is completed, this will be the most significant transfer of power in the company’s over ten-year history.

Li Jinyang is not a traditional entrepreneurial-type controller. She is more widely known as the widow of Zhao Meiguang, founder of Chifeng Gold.

There are few details online about Zhao Meiguang’s rise to wealth. However, his status as a billionaire is well known.

In the Forbes billionaire list published in April 2021, Zhao Meiguang ranked 2,674th with a fortune of $1 billion.

In December 2021, Zhao Meiguang passed away at age 59.

According to his will, all his estate was inherited by his spouse, Li Jinyang.

With the inheritance process completed, control of Chifeng Gold transferred to this woman from Jilin, who was only 38 at the time.

Unlike many succession cases where the new leader immediately takes charge, Li Jinyang has maintained a relatively low profile since taking control and has not held a specific position within the company.

The company’s daily operations are still led by professional managers and the management team.

It is worth noting that just before the suspension, some subtle signals had already appeared in the market.

In early March, Li Jinyang arranged for a deferred buyback of some pledged shares, extending the maturity of her pledged shares originally due on March 3, 2026, by one year.

Such operations are not uncommon, but in the context of planning a control transfer, they are often interpreted by the market as maneuvering space for the transaction.

As of March 4, 2026, Li Jinyang and her concerted action partner, Zhejiang Hanfeng Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership) (referred to as “Hanfeng Venture”), held approximately 12.73% of Chifeng Gold’s shares.

Meanwhile, 3.27% of the company’s shares are pledged by Li Jinyang and Hanfeng Venture.

Li Jinyang has held control of Chifeng Gold for four years. Why is she now transferring control?

Externally, gold prices have surged significantly over the past year, greatly improving the industry’s profitability.

Internally, Chifeng Gold is at a high point in performance, with net profit expected to grow by approximately 70% to 81% in 2025.

Choosing to transfer control at a cyclical high may be a way to realize asset value, or it could indicate a change in the original shareholders’ outlook on the company’s next phase of development.

To some extent, this is a typical cyclical exit.

But in the capital market, a bigger mystery is who will take over. Will it be continued industry consolidation by strategic investors, or will financial capital enter?

Different answers will determine the future development path of Chifeng Gold.

2

From shell company to private gold mine giant

To understand the significance of this control change, we need to look back at Chifeng Gold’s origins.

This company was not originally related to gold.

Its predecessor was Guangzhou Baolong Special Vehicles Co., Ltd., established in 1998, known as “Dongfang Baolong.”

In April 2004, Dongfang Baolong was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

However, in the following years, the company’s operations remained sluggish. After consecutive losses in 2008 and 2009, Dongfang Baolong was again subject to delisting risk warning, becoming “*ST Baolong.”

For such a poorly performing company, Zhao Meiguang, a Jilin native involved in mining in Chifeng, saw its shell value.

At the end of 2012, the company completed a major asset restructuring, injecting 100% equity of Chifeng Jilong Mining Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Jilong Mining”), controlled by Zhao Meiguang, into the listed company.

This transaction was essentially a typical backdoor listing. After the restructuring, the company’s main business shifted entirely to gold mining and sales, and it was officially renamed Chifeng Gold.

Since then, the company has embarked on a typical resource-based expansion path: acquiring mines, expanding production, and going global.

Today, its business footprint covers China, Southeast Asia, and West Africa, operating seven gold and multi-metal mines worldwide, along with one resource recycling project.

Within the industry, Chifeng Gold has gradually grown into one of China’s largest private gold producers.

On the management level, the company has also experienced multiple leadership changes.

In February 2016, after serving as chairman for over three years, Zhao Meiguang resigned, and professional manager Lü Xiaozhao took over.

In December 2019, Wang Jianhua, former chairman of Shandong Gold Group and president of Zijin Mining (02899.HK), was appointed chairman of Chifeng Gold, further strengthening its professional operation.

Notably, in November 2020, Zhao Meiguang transferred 98.17 million shares of Chifeng Gold to Wang Jianhua, then aged 64, at a total price of 1.669 billion yuan.

Financially, Chifeng Gold’s growth path is clear and steep.

In 2013, revenue was only 582 million yuan; by 2015, it had grown to 1.591 billion yuan; in 2021, it reached 3.783 billion yuan.

From 2022 to 2024, revenue was 6.267 billion, 7.221 billion, and 9.026 billion yuan respectively, with net profit rapidly rising from 451 million to 1.764 billion yuan.

Entering 2025, performance continues to grow. The company expects annual net profit of 3 to 3.2 billion yuan, with non-recurring net profit of 2.97 to 3.17 billion yuan.

Chifeng Gold disclosed that in 2025, its main gold production will be about 14.4 tons, with sales prices of its main gold products increasing by approximately 49% year-on-year, and profitability of domestic and overseas mines improving.

In March 2025, Chifeng Gold successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming China’s third “A+H” gold listed company.

3

Conclusion

The control transfer suspense is pushing Chifeng Gold toward a critical crossroads.

On one side, the founder’s legacy and cyclical industry dividends; on the other, the strategic reshaping and pathway adjustments that new entrants may bring.

Against the backdrop of high gold prices and strong performance growth, the control transfer could be both a timely realization of value and a starting point for new expansion.

For the market, the real focus is not just who will take over, but whether this private mining company, which rose through acquisitions, will follow a completely different development path after the change.