Chifeng Gold with Nearly 80 Billion Yuan Market Cap May Change Hands; 43-Year-Old Founder's Widow "Retreats While Ahead"

Chifeng Gold, which achieved record-high operating performance, has unexpectedly seen its controlling shareholder make a sudden exit.

On March 19, Chifeng Gold suspended trading. The company announced the previous evening that Li Jinyang and his concerted parties are planning to transfer their shares in the company, 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. After Zhao Meiguang passed away due to illness in December 2021, he left all his estate, including his shares in Chifeng Gold, entirely to Li Jinyang.

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, this stake was worth approximately 9.87 billion yuan.

If Li Jinyang transfers all her shares and considering the premium for control acquisition, the total transfer could exceed 10 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 are clear developments in the transaction, the company will disclose more details in subsequent announcements.”

In fact, without external financing, only a few major domestic mining companies have the capacity to acquire such a large stake worth over 10 billion yuan, including Zijin Mining, Shandong Gold, China Gold, and Luoyang Molybdenum.

Some of these companies have explicitly focused on gold assets for mergers and acquisitions, and have completed large-scale 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) through a backdoor listing, and the listed company was renamed Chifeng Gold.

Subsequently, the company acquired the Liaoning Wulong Gold Mine and Xiongfeng Environmental Protection, expanding into non-ferrous metal recycling and multi-metal mines. However, these mainly contributed to the company’s growth in scale, with gold products remaining its most profitable business.

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

His expertise helped sharpen the company’s focus. The overall development strategy shifted from “primarily mining” in 2019 to “primarily gold” in 2020.

On December 11, 2021, Zhao Meiguang passed away at age 59. According to her will, all her personal estate 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, supporting the company’s strategic development, and safeguarding its growth.

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

Data shows that in 2019, the company’s gold production was 2.07 tons, rising to 15.16 tons by 2024.

As production increased and gold prices rose, Chifeng Gold’s performance exploded, reaching heights Zhao Meiguang had never seen.

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

Meanwhile, Chifeng Gold led Zijin Gold International in 2025 by completing a “valuation re-rating” through H-share listing in March, with a 118% increase that year.

The company has stated that it has established a “low-interest debt + strong cash flow” financial profile, with interest-bearing debt remaining low globally, interest expenses significantly reduced, and ample cash flow.

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

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

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

Li Jinyang’s Intent to Exit

More shares don’t necessarily satisfy liquidity; real cash is more compelling.

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

At that time, Li Jinyang explained the move as “further implementing the strategic goal of optimizing the company’s equity structure, introducing capable investors, and raising funds to repay debts.”

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

Later, because the transfer conditions were not met within the agreed period, both parties agreed to terminate the transfer 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 around $1,800 per ounce, and the average transfer price of their shares was only 18.64 yuan per share.

Subsequently, international gold prices surged for three consecutive years. Although the company’s operational data improved significantly, its stock price in 2023 and 2024 did not rise markedly and even declined slightly compared to late 2022.

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

This provided Li Jinyang, who had long considered exiting, with a good opportunity.

Moreover, recent high volatility in international gold prices caused Chifeng Gold’s stock to retreat nearly 20% from its previous high. Li Jinyang, who has never officially served in the company, chose to withdraw again.

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

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

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

This is also related to the industry’s characteristics—mining companies are essentially “investment firms” that require large capital for resource acquisitions and project development.

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

New Potential Controller of Chifeng Gold

Unlike in 2022, this time Li Jinyang’s share transfer directly involves a change of control, likely exceeding the previous scale.

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 her), indirectly held 520 million shares, totaling 2.42 billion shares, or 12.73% of the company.

Based on the pre-suspension closing price of 40.82 yuan per share, this stake was worth approximately 9.875 billion yuan.

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

This suggests that if Li Jinyang transfers all her shares, the transaction could exceed 10 billion yuan. Few gold mining companies have the capacity to absorb such a large stake.

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

Leading companies ahead of it include Zijin Mining (72.94 tons), Shandong Gold (46.17 tons), China Gold (18.35 tons), and Zhaojin Mining (18.34 tons).

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

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

With its 100–110 tons/year gold production target likely to be achieved ahead of schedule this year, Zijin has already raised its 2028 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 valuation re-ratings. Its domestic gold assets, however, have no publicized plans for capital operations.

Shandong Gold and China Gold Group have also set clear production targets for the coming years, with China Gold Group’s mineral gold growth expectations being particularly strong.

According to China Mining Network, at the January 21, 2024, China Gold Group’s 2026 work conference, the goal is to “triple and quadruple” production—specifically, to quadruple mineral gold output, double copper output, and double employee income.

Besides these top-tier gold miners, rapidly growing private mining companies active in M&A, such as Luoyang Molybdenum, which spent 10.145 billion yuan in 2025 acquiring multiple South American gold mines, are also potential candidates.

Luoyang Molybdenum’s resource acquisition strategy focuses on copper and gold.

Similarly, Zhongda Mining, also based in Inner Mongolia and with similar operations, although less financially robust, has been active in M&A recently, investing 8.1 billion yuan from 2022 to 2023 in lithium projects in Sichuan and Hunan, and its actual controller has even made small investments in the catering sector.

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

Who will become the new owner of Chifeng Gold? The answer depends on subsequent disclosures from the company, and we may see the outcome as early as next week if actions proceed swiftly.

(Author: Dong Peng; Editor: Zheng Shifeng)