Breaking News! Cross-border E-commerce Dark Horse Chuangyuan Holdings Chairman Chen Gang Under Investigation - Presided Over Shareholders' Meeting Just Last Week

Everyday Economic News Reporter | Zhao Li Nan Everyday Economic News Editor | Wen Duo

On March 13, Chuangyuan Co., Ltd. (SZ300703, stock price 21.13 yuan, market value 3.812 billion yuan) announced that the company recently received notice from its controlling shareholder that Chairman Chen Gang has been detained by relevant supervisory authorities.

The reporter from “Daily Economic News” noted that this news was sudden, as just on March 5, Chen Gang personally presided over the company’s second extraordinary shareholders’ meeting for 2026.

As a company controlled by the Ningbo Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Chuangyuan Co., Ltd. has been in a critical period of strategic transformation in recent years, shifting from traditional stationery export business to cross-border e-commerce and brand operation.

According to the company’s announcement, it recently received notice from its controlling shareholder, Ningbo Cultural Tourism Exhibition Group Co., Ltd., that Chairman Chen Gang has been detained by relevant supervisory authorities.

In response to this unexpected situation, Chuangyuan Co., Ltd. quickly made emergency arrangements. The company stated that daily operations are managed by the executive team, and other directors and senior managers are currently performing their duties normally.

The company also said that during Chen Gang’s detention, which prevents him from fulfilling his duties as chairman, the responsibilities are temporarily delegated to Director Hua Tian, who will perform the duties of chairman and the responsibilities of the company’s special committees.

At the same time, Chuangyuan emphasized that as of the disclosure date of this announcement, it has not received any investigation or cooperation documents from authorities, and the progress and conclusions of the detention investigation are unknown.

It is worth noting that on March 5, Chuangyuan held its second extraordinary shareholders’ meeting for 2026, with Chairman Chen Gang serving as the host.

Looking back at Chen Gang’s tenure at Chuangyuan, it is clear that his official appointment as chairman was relatively recent.

At the end of October 2025, the former chairman, Ren Zhaoguo, reached the statutory retirement age. Subsequently, the board approved the nomination of Chen Gang as a candidate for the non-independent director of the fourth board of directors. In November 2025, Chen Gang was officially elected as chairman of the fourth board.

His resume shows that Chen Gang was born in November 1973, holds the title of Senior Economist, and has a master’s degree. He is also a high-level talent in Ningbo. He previously served as director and deputy director of the Ningbo Tourism Bureau Office. In June 2020, he was appointed Party Secretary and Chairman of Ningbo Cultural Tourism Investment Group Co., Ltd., and in June 2023, he became Party Secretary and Chairman of Ningbo Cultural Tourism Exhibition Group Co., Ltd.

Chen Gang’s appointment as chairman of Chuangyuan Co., Ltd. is backed by the full takeover and empowerment from Ningbo Municipal SASAC.

As early as the end of 2021, Ningbo Cultural Tourism Investment Group Co., Ltd. transferred 100% of its equity in Ningbo Beilun Helil Management Consulting Co., Ltd. through an equity transfer agreement, indirectly controlling 28.88% of Chuangyuan Co., Ltd., changing the company’s actual controller from Ren Zhaoguo to Ningbo SASAC.

Since Ningbo SASAC’s involvement, Chuangyuan’s performance has significantly improved, with 2024 revenue surpassing 1.9 billion yuan and net profit attributable to shareholders exceeding 100 million yuan.

Meanwhile, after the state-owned assets took control, the company’s transformation accelerated, and it received high praise from institutional investors in the capital market.

In December 2025, Guojin Securities’ Light Industry Team published an in-depth research report titled “Cross-border Sailing, Domestic Market Waiting to Bloom.” The analysts see Chuangyuan as being in a key period of value revaluation, with potential to become a cross-border consumer goods company driven by branding and IP.

The report highlighted that Chuangyuan started as an OEM for stationery exports and has recently focused heavily on cross-border e-commerce in home fitness. In 2023, 2024, and the first half of 2025, the company’s revenue grew by 3%, 43%, and 20% year-over-year, respectively, gradually shifting from B2B (business-to-business) to B2C (business-to-consumer) and from OEM to independent brands. Notably, the company’s OBM (own brand) business share increased significantly from 15% in 2020 to about 30% in 2024.

Analysts are particularly optimistic about the company’s second growth curve—fitness and sports business. This segment is based on the subsidiary Ningbo Ruitifei Sports Technology Co., Ltd., which adopts an OBM cross-border e-commerce model with notable growth. Guojin Securities believes that Chuangyuan is upgrading its strategy through “building its own brands + IP content incubation,” moving away from the low-value-added OEM path.

Currently, this emerging cross-border e-commerce star, in the midst of its transformation and with impressive data and high institutional expectations, has encountered a “black swan” event.

Regarding the detention of the chairman, Chuangyuan stated that the company’s board is operating normally, and the production and operation of the company and its subsidiaries are unaffected. The incident is not expected to cause significant adverse effects on normal business operations.

Cover image source: “Everyday Economic News” Media Asset Library