18.3 Billion "Swallows" Chifeng Gold—Is Zijin Mining Addicted to Buying A-shares?

Why is Zijin Mining frequently making moves on A-share companies?

A share gold industry’s largest merger and acquisition occurs. Zijin Mining will acquire control of Chifeng Gold for 18.258 billion yuan, while the founder’s widow, Li Jinyang, fully cashes out and exits. After this transaction, Zijin Mining will become the sole largest shareholder of Chifeng Gold and achieve consolidated financial statements. In recent years, Zijin’s capital market activities have been ongoing, with holdings in over 10 A-share companies.

On March 23, Chifeng Gold announced that Zijin Mining would acquire its control for a total of 18.258 billion yuan. This deal sets a new record for M&A in China’s gold industry.

According to the announcement, the transaction will be completed through a combination of agreement transfer of A-shares and a private placement of H-shares. If successful, Zijin Mining will hold 28.85% of Chifeng Gold’s shares, becoming its single largest shareholder and consolidating its financials. Meanwhile, founder Li Jinyang and her concerted parties will fully exit.

From overseas gold mine acquisitions to the spin-off of Zijin International for Hong Kong listing, and ongoing expansion of its A-share footprint, Zijin Mining has woven a resource-centered capital network across primary and secondary markets.

Zijin Mining’s 18.3 Billion Yuan Acquisition of Chifeng Gold******

On March 23, after being suspended for four trading days, Chifeng Gold announced that Zijin Mining, a global mining giant, would acquire control through its wholly owned subsidiary Zijin Gold, paying a total of 18.258 billion yuan. The founder’s widow, Li Jinyang, will fully cash out, setting a new record in 2023 for the largest M&A in Shandong Gold’s 12.76 billion yuan acquisition of Yintai Gold, making it the biggest deal in China’s A-share gold industry.

According to both parties’ announcements, Zijin Gold will sign a share transfer agreement with Li Jinyang and her associate Zhejiang Hanfeng, planning to buy 242 million A-shares of Chifeng Gold at 41.36 yuan per share, totaling 10.006 billion yuan. On the same day, they also signed a strategic investment agreement, with Zijin Gold subscribing to 311 million H-shares of Chifeng Gold at 30.19 HKD per share, equivalent to 8.252 billion RMB.

After these two transactions, Zijin Gold will hold a total of 572 million shares of Chifeng Gold, accounting for 25.85% of the enlarged share capital, becoming the sole largest shareholder and consolidating its financials. The controlling shareholder of Chifeng Gold will change to Zijin Gold, while Li Jinyang and her associates will fully exit, holding no shares anymore.

Li Jinyang’s decision to exit at this time has been anticipated. After the death of Chifeng Gold’s founder Zhao Meiguang in 2021, Li Jinyang, as his widow, inherited all shares, holding a 17.63% stake, becoming the largest shareholder. That same month, she reduced her holdings by over 18.09 million shares via block trade, lowering her stake to 16.54%. Based on the closing price that day (December 31), she cashed out about 270 million yuan.

In March 2022, Li Jinyang signed an agreement with Huaneng Trust to transfer 96 million shares at 16.79 yuan per share. However, according to regulations, shares inherited cannot be transferred within 18 months of registration, preventing completion of the transfer within the agreed period. The deal was ultimately terminated in November 2022.

On the same day, Chifeng Gold disclosed that Li Jinyang had pledged her 78.98% stake to Huaneng Trust, with the pledged funds supporting the company’s development.

In January 2024, Li Jinyang and Huaneng Trust解除了质押关系. Over the following years, she continued to pledge shares with institutions like Tibet Trust and GF Securities, but overall pledged share ratios declined compared to 2023.

Amid rising gold prices over the past year, Chifeng Gold’s stock reached historic highs. Li Jinyang’s exit at this point maximized her personal asset value.

Chifeng Gold’s魅力******

Since 2020, after clarifying its “primarily gold” strategy, Chifeng Gold has begun divesting non-core assets. Its subsidiary XML Enterprise Holdings started developing gold resources at the Sepon mine in Laos, and the company also sold its 100% stake in Xiongfeng Environmental Protection that year.

Today, Chifeng Gold ranks among China’s largest private gold producers, with annual gold output rising from 8.1 tons in 2021 to 14.51 tons in 2025, a CAGR of 26%. Revenue has grown from 3.783 billion yuan in 2021 to 12.639 billion yuan in 2025.

As a mining industry leader, Zijin Mining has continued to increase its gold business investments. In October-November 2024, Zijin acquired the Akyem gold mine in Ghana from Newmont for $1 billion and the La Arena project in Peru from Pan American Silver for $3 billion, expanding its presence in Africa and South America.

In 2025, Zijin further acquired 100% of the RG gold mine from Cantech for $1.2 billion, strengthening its presence in Central Asia. Early 2026, Zijin spent about 5.5 billion CAD to acquire United Gold, gaining the Sadiola gold mine in Mali, a gold complex in Côte d’Ivoire, and the Kurmuk gold mine in Ethiopia.

Beyond overseas acquisitions, Zijin also consolidated all its overseas gold mines into Zijin Gold International in 2025, pushing for an independent listing in Hong Kong. From the initial public disclosure on April 30 to the listing on September 30, Zijin Gold International took only five months. Its HKD 28.7 billion IPO was the largest in global gold mining, the second-largest IPO worldwide in 2025, attracting top institutions like GIC, Hillhouse, and BlackRock.

Zijin’s heavy investment in gold has been reflected in its performance. In 2025, the company’s gold mining revenue reached 64.675 billion yuan, an 83.25% increase year-over-year. Public information shows that Chifeng Gold’s mines are mainly in Laos and West Africa, regions where Zijin’s gold layout has been relatively weak, making this transaction highly complementary.

Most importantly, many key managers of Chifeng Gold have experience working at Zijin Mining. Chairman Wang Jianhua served as Zijin’s president from 2013 to 2016, leading Zijin through a period of exploration and overseas M&A, growing revenue from 49.772 billion to 78.851 billion yuan.

Current President Yang Yifang previously served as Zijin’s assistant to the chairman and held key management roles in several Zijin subsidiaries; CFO Huang Xuebin also previously worked as deputy head of Zijin’s finance department.

Zijin Mining’sA-share Map******

If Zijin successfully acquires Chifeng Gold, its A-share company lineup will expand further.

Looking back at Zijin’s A-share investments, the earliest trace dates to 2006. Zijin invested 74.95 million yuan to acquire a 12% stake in Muli Rongda Mining Co., Ltd. (the predecessor of Sichuan Gold), via Zijin Nantou, becoming a core shareholder. At that time, Sichuan Gold’s mineral development was still in early stages, with little market attention.

In 2023, Sichuan Gold successfully listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and Zijin’s investment paid off. In Q1 2023, Zijin Nantou’s market value reached 992 million yuan, over 13 times the initial 74.95 million yuan investment. Despite subsequent partial reduction, Zijin Nantou remained the fourth-largest shareholder. When Sichuan Gold’s stock surged in January 2026, Zijin Nantou’s holdings increased to about 1.5 billion yuan, a return exceeding 20 times.

In 2016 and 2019, Zijin invested in environmental company Cains through capital increases and share swaps. Cains listed on the STAR Market in 2022, and Zijin, as the second-largest shareholder, profited significantly. Currently, Zijin’s stake in Cains is worth 1.714 billion yuan, over 8.5 times the initial 198 million yuan investment.

From 2021 to 2022, amid tightening macro environment and a downward cycle in the mining sector, most companies shrank their operations. Zijin, however, expanded against the trend. In April 2021, Zijin’s related fund Zijin Zihai invested in Hai’an Group, a tire manufacturer, acquiring a 3.23% stake. Orders between the two soared from 65 million yuan in 2020 to 213 million yuan in 2022. During Hai’an’s IPO in 2025, Zijin participated in strategic placement, subscribing 95 million yuan, and they also signed a six-year cooperation agreement.

Later that year, Zijin invested in cross-border logistics firm Jiayou International via block trades, private placements, and agreements, holding 21.23%, becoming its second-largest shareholder.

In the announcement of the transfer, Zijin highlighted strong synergy between Jiayou’s business and its overseas projects. The cooperation continued, with joint investments in the Dilo port project in Congo and cross-border logistics services for Zijin’s Hong Kong subsidiary in 2023.

In April 2022, Zijin signed an agreement to acquire four assets from Dunan Group for 7.682 billion yuan, mainly the 100% stake in Jinshi Mining, which owns 70% of the Lagaer Salt Lake lithium mine.

This acquisition also included stakes in Jiangnan Chemical and Dunan Environment, with Zijin acquiring 9.82% and 9.71%, respectively. In November 2022, Zijin further increased its stake in Jiangnan Chemical by 1.614 billion yuan, becoming its second-largest shareholder.

The acquisition of Dunan Environment faced complications. The day before the agreement, Gree Electric completed the transfer of a 29.48% stake in Dunan Environment, becoming the controlling shareholder. Dunan Holdings had promised Gree not to transfer its shares without approval. Zijin’s agreement did not seek Gree’s consent, leading to negotiations and Gree ultimately abandoning the acquisition on May 18. Zijin thus became the second-largest shareholder of Dunan Environment.

In 2024, Zijin, via Zijin Nantou, spent 535 million yuan to acquire a 20% stake in Longgao Group, entering kaolin resources. Later that year, Zijin Nantou bought an additional 4.37% stake from Longgao’s parent company for 398 million yuan, deepening ties.

In March 2025, Zijin’s long-time partner China Ruolin launched an A-share IPO, with Zijin participating as a strategic investor. In Q2 and Q3 2025, Zijin also acquired stakes in ST Yazhen and ST Weier, ranking as the fifth and sixth largest shareholders. The same year, Zijin also took a controlling stake in Zangge Mining.

As Zijin’s expansion continues, its A-share footprint will further grow.

Editor | Chen Bin