Huayi Brothers and Wang Zhongjun, who bet on "Zhu Yu," face consumption restrictions again, involving 1.89 million yuan in case funds.

On March 19, Tianyancha APP reported that Huayi Brothers (300027.SZ) and its legal representative Wang Zhongjun recently received a new consumption restriction order. The enforcement court is the Beijing Chaoyang District People’s Court. Case process information shows that the company has previously been enforced for over 1.89 million yuan due to this case.

Huayi Brothers has been subject to multiple consumption restrictions before. In December last year, Huayi Brothers and Wang Zhongjun received a new restriction order related to an advertising contract dispute. The applicant was Beijing Tairui Feike Technology Co., Ltd., and the enforcement court was the Beijing Chaoyang District People’s Court. The company had previously been enforced for over 11.4 million yuan.

Currently, Huayi Brothers has two enforcement records, with a total enforced amount of 76.6286 million yuan; there is also one historical enforcement record, with an enforced amount exceeding 11.4 million yuan.

Notably, Huayi Brothers has invested in the currently popular TV drama “Zhu Yu.” According to Tianyancha APP, one of the producers of “Zhu Yu,” Zhejiang Dongyang Haohan Film & Television Entertainment Co., Ltd., is owned 49.25% by Huayi Brothers. The actual controllers are Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei. Although “Zhu Yu” has achieved huge success, whether it can help Huayi Brothers turn around remains to be seen.

Huayi Brothers was founded in November 2004 and went public in 2009. It was once called “China’s No. 1 entertainment stock.” The controlling shareholders and actual controllers are brothers Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei. At its peak, its market value exceeded 90 billion yuan.

In recent years, Huayi Brothers has fallen into operational difficulties. From 2018 to 2024, the company has accumulated losses of over 8.2 billion yuan. On January 30 this year, Huayi Brothers announced that it expects a net loss attributable to the parent of between 289 million and 407 million yuan in 2025.

Last November, the involvement of Wang Zhonglei and Wang Xiaorong in short videos and related topics drew attention. Some analysts believe this may be a prelude to live-streaming commerce. Behind this is Huayi Brothers’ ongoing multi-year financial losses.

Currently, the company faces huge debts. On December 10 last year, Huayi Brothers announced that due to the impact of the economic situation and some receivables not being collected on time, the company experienced temporary liquidity tension, leading to some debts not being repaid as scheduled. According to the company’s relevant departments’ verification, as of December 10, 2025, the company’s overdue debt with banks and financial institutions totaled 52.5 million yuan, exceeding 10% of its audited net assets in 2024.

Additionally, Huayi Brothers disclosed that the company’s controlling shareholder and actual controller, Wang Zhongjun, has 153.92 million unrestricted circulating shares scheduled for a second judicial auction, representing 48.54% of his holdings in the company and 5.55% of the total share capital.

From 10:00 on December 8 to 10:00 on December 9 last year, the Beijing Third Intermediate People’s Court conducted an auction of Wang Zhongjun’s 153.92 million unrestricted circulating shares of Huayi Brothers. The starting price was 2.23 yuan per share, totaling about 343.2 million yuan, with a deposit requirement of 0.15 yuan per share. The bid increment was 0.01 yuan per share, with a minimum bid of 3 million shares. The auction was ultimately unsuccessful.

Amid operational difficulties, Alibaba has reduced its holdings. On December 17 last year, Huayi Brothers announced that Alibaba Venture Capital had reduced its shares through block trading on that day, causing its and Jack Ma’s equity interests to change by multiples of 1% and 5%. Alibaba Venture Capital’s shareholding decreased from 3.467799% to 2.403580%, and Jack Ma’s holdings decreased from 6.064215% to 4.999996%. After this change, Alibaba Venture Capital and Jack Ma no longer hold more than 5% of Huayi Brothers’ shares.

As of the close on the morning of March 19, Huayi Brothers’ stock price was 1.62 yuan per share, down 1.82%, with a market value of 4.495 billion yuan.