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produced by radar finance text | mo enmeng edited by shenhai

a few months after his release from prison, wang zhenhua has returned, and is re-involving himself in the company's management affairs in a low-key manner. his return has caused ripples within new town, just like a stone thrown into still water.

not long after wang zhenhua returned,sunac china holdingsa senior executive of sunac china holdings was recently “cut off”. according to the paper, on september 11, sunac china holdings issued an internal notice that ni lianzhong, a senior veteran of the company, was removed from his position as vice president and was transferred to judicial authorities for handling.

radar finance learned that before joining new town holdings, ni lianzhong had worked in wujin biochemical factory, wujin third construction company and other positions. in 1995, ni lianzhong's life trajectory was officially connected with new town. since then, he has gone through nearly 30 years of ups and downs with the company.

it is reported that ni lianzhong's last public appearance was at the opening ceremony of wuyue plaza in daye, huangshi at the end of last year. he attended the event as the vice president of new town holdings group. the news that ni lianzhong was removed from his position as vice president and transferred to the judicial authorities for handling has aroused widespread attention and various speculations from the outside world.

it is worth noting that although wang zhenhua currently does not hold a public position on the board of directors or in the management of listed companies, as the actual controller of the sunac china holdings group, his influence cannot be ignored. according to public information, wang zhenhua firmly controls sunac china holdings,new town developmentandnew town servicethree listed companies.

although wang zhenhua has kept a low profile since his release from prison, he has not been idle. according to the paper, he has quietly begun to intervene in the company's daily management, communicating closely with the senior management team and personally inspecting projects in various places. sunac employees believe that with the return of wang zhenhua, the company may usher in a series of new adjustments and changes in marketing strategies, financial management and other aspects.

looking back at the years since wang zhenhua was imprisoned, china's real estate industry has undergone an unprecedented upheaval, with many once-glorious leading companies falling into trouble and bankruptcy incidents occurring frequently. against this backdrop, the sunac china holdings, of which wang zhenhua is the actual controller, is also facing challenges.

the company's latest financial report shows that both revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders of new town holdings declined in the first half of the year. at the same time, new town holdings also needs to be alert to potential liquidity risks. as of the end of the first half of the year, new town holdings' short-term loans were 904 million yuan, and non-current liabilities due within one year reached 15.357 billion yuan. as of the end of the first half of the year, new town holdings' cash and cash equivalents balance was 11.625 billion yuan, while at the end of 2023 it was 20.335 billion yuan.

wang zhenhua's wealth has also shrunk significantly. according to the hurun global rich list, wang zhenhua's family wealth was 43 billion yuan in 2020, but by 2024, his family wealth had shrunk to 7.2 billion yuan. wang zhenhua's family was even included in the list of chinese entrepreneurs with the largest decline in wealth.

the vice president who had worked for new town for nearly 30 years was dismissed and transferred to the judicial authorities

according to the paper, on september 11, seazen holdings issued an internal notice dismissing ni lianzhong from his position as vice president and transferring the case to judicial authorities. this sudden news quickly caused an uproar in the industry, with all kinds of speculation and discussion. however, seazen holdings did not officially disclose the specific reasons for ni lianzhong's dismissal.

it is reported that ni lianzhong, who was dismissed this time, is a senior employee of the company. born in 1966, ni lianzhong graduated from changzhou institute of technology and is 58 years old this year. before joining jiangsu new town, ni lianzhong served as a technician at wujin biochemical plant, technical section chief and project manager of wujin third construction company.

in may 1995, the gears of ni lianzhong's destiny began to turn. at that time, the 29-year-old ni lianzhong officially stepped into the gate of sun city. after joining jiangsu sun city, ni lianzhong grew up with the company. he served as an engineer and manager of the engineering department; general manager of changzhou fuyu development co., ltd., general manager of the company's projects, general manager of the project management center; general manager of sun city holdings' projects, general manager of the project management center, and vice president.

according to an article published by the wechat public account "sunac china holdings" cited by the paper, in 2018, on the occasion of the company's 25th anniversary, vice president ni lianzhong accepted an interview with the group's publicity and promotion department as an employee representative: "in his 23 years at sunac china holdings, ni lianzhong has never lost himself. his down-to-earth and sincere temperament has been integrated into his work. together with sunac china holdings, he has experienced the hardships of its initial start-up and the glory of breaking through 100 billion yuan. every step is made up of happy memories."

on september 14, radar finance searched for the keyword "ni lianzhong" on the official account "sunac china holdings" and could not find the previous article, which seemed to have been deleted.sohuon the platform, a user named "sunac china holdings" published an article titled "25 years with new town: delivering happiness and harvesting happiness" in 2018, in which he also mentioned the statement "ni lianzhong has never lost himself".

the video clip accompanying the article shows that when seeing the group photo with his colleagues, ni lianzhong said with a little more emotion, "looking back on many colleagues, i think the company can develop to where it is today, and each of them has made a great contribution to the company."

however, all this good fortune came to an abrupt end recently. with the announcement of the dismissal decision, ni lianzhong's brilliant career in new town group officially came to an end.

some media reported that ni lianzhong's last public appearance can be traced back to the end of last year. according to a tweet posted by huangshi radio and television station's "letao huangshi" official account, on december 15 last year, the much-anticipated huangshi daye wuyue plaza opened grandly, and ni lianzhong attended the opening ceremony as the vice president of new town holdings group.

it is worth noting that ni lianzhong's dismissal is not the only personnel change in the sunac china holdings group recently. on august 28, sunac china holdings group issued an announcement that zuo wei had submitted his resignation as the company's chief financial officer due to other work arrangements within the sunac china holdings group, effective august 28, 2024.

after zuo wei resigned, the baton of new town joy service's cfo was passed to 42-year-old chen nina. as the new cfo, chen nina not only has the professional qualification of a chinese certified public accountant, but also holds a master's degree in management from south china university of technology. she previously worked as an audit manager at kpmg huazhen accounting firm.

since joining new town holdings in may 2014, chen nina has served as budget manager, tax manager, and financial general manager of the real estate development and commercial management division. chen nina's more than 17 years of industry professional experience in investment and financing management, financial operation management, information construction, tax planning, and group financial operation management experience make her the first choice for the key position of new town joy service chief financial officer.

released from prison, wang zhenhua makes a low-key comeback

as the founder of the new town group, wang zhenhua, who was born in changzhou, jiangsu in march 1962, is a well-known local entrepreneur. in 1993, wang zhenhua, who was in his early 30s, bid farewell to the familiar home textile factory and plunged into the real estate industry. by raising funds to establish wujin new town investment construction development co., ltd., wang zhenhua officially began to get involved in the real estate business.

under the leadership of wang zhenhua, suncity has gradually grown into a comprehensive real estate group integrating residential and commercial real estate, and has successively created three listed companies. however, a police report in 2019 has instantly plunged this once glorious entrepreneur into a whirlpool of public opinion.

according to a police report released by the putuo branch of the shanghai public security bureau, at around 22:00 on june 30, 2019, the putuo police in shanghai received a report from ms. wang, saying that her daughter was brought to shanghai from her hometown in jiangsu by her friend zhou moumou (female, 49 years old, from jiangsu) and stayed in a hotel in the city. her daughter was then molested by a man in the room.

in june 2020, the media learned from the pudong district people's court of shanghai that the defendant wang zhenhua was sentenced to five years in prison for child molestation. although wang zhenhua subsequently appealed and requested a not guilty verdict at the second instance, in may 2021, the shanghai second intermediate people's court held a closed trial of the case and pronounced the verdict in court, ruling to dismiss the appeal and uphold the original verdict.

it is worth mentioning that after receiving the notice from the putuo branch of the shanghai public security bureau, sunac china holdings quickly took countermeasures. on july 3, 2019, sunac china holdings announced that wang zhenhua's son wang xiaosong would take over as chairman of the company, replacing wang zhenhua. since then, sunac china holdings has officially opened a new chapter of the "second generation" at the helm.

time flies. wang xiaosong has been the chairman of sunac china holdings for about five years since he took over. in july this year, wang zhenhua finally regained his freedom after his prison term ended. behind the recent adjustments made to the senior management of sunac china holdings, wang zhenhua is returning to the power center of sunac china holdings.

radar finance noted that according to the public announcements of listed companies, wang zhenhua currently does not hold any position on the board of directors or senior management of the three listed companies, namely, new town holdings, new town development and new town joy service. however, judging from the shareholding situation, even though wang zhenhua was previously involved in the scandal of molesting a girl, he is still the real controller of the new town group.

according to the interim report recently released by sunac china holdings, as of the end of the first half of the year, fuyu development group co., ltd. and changzhou derun consulting management co., ltd. held 1.378 billion and 138 million shares of sunac china holdings, respectively, corresponding to 61.09% and 6.11% of the shares, ranking first and second largest shareholders of the company. both of the above companies are actually controlled by wang zhenhua, so wang zhenhua is the actual controller of sunac china holdings.

according to the previously disclosed 2023 annual report, wang zhenhua holds 63.33% of the shares of new town development, while new town development holds 100% of the shares of fuyu development and changzhou derun through hong kong chuangtuo. fuyu development holds 61.09% of the shares of new town holdings, and changzhou derun holds 6.11% of the company's shares. in addition, wang zhenhua's wife chen jing holds 1.43% of the shares of new town development; wang zhenhua's son wang xiaosong holds 0.02% of the shares of new town holdings.

on june 19, 2020, after wang zhenhua was sentenced, new town joy service issued an announcement stating that wang zhenhua was the actual controller of the company. according to data from eastmoney, as of the end of last year, wang zhenhua's indirect shareholding ratio in new town joy service was as high as 68.86%.

although wang zhenhua has not made any public appearances since his release from prison, nor has he held any public position in sunac china holdings limited, the paper reported that he has begun to intervene in the company's management, including holding meetings with the senior management team, leaving the headquarters to inspect cities, etc. an employee of sunac china holdings limited said that with the return of wang zhenhua, the company may see new adjustments and changes in marketing strategies and financial management.

the industry has undergone tremendous changes during the period of imprisonment, and liquidity risks still need to be vigilant

in the past few years in prison, wang zhenhua's wealth has shrunk dramatically. the "2024 hurun global rich list" released by hurun research institute previously showed that wang zhenhua's family was listed among the chinese entrepreneurs with the largest decline in wealth.

the list shows that wang zhenhua's family, whose net worth is 7.2 billion yuan this year, has seen its wealth shrink by more than 60% compared to last year, and its global ranking has plummeted by 1,877 places. compared with the 43 billion yuan in 2020, wang zhenhua's family's wealth has evaporated by a staggering 35.8 billion yuan in just a few years.

tianyancha shows that wang zhenhua has held positions in 40 companies so far. however, only 9 companies, including jiangsu xincheng industrial group co., ltd., are still registered, while the remaining 30 companies are currently in the state of cancellation or revocation.

in fact, during wang zhenhua's imprisonment, the domestic real estate industry has undergone earth-shaking changes. in the 2024 semi-annual report released this time, new town holdings also admitted that the recent years have been the most difficult period for the real estate industry, with a large number of real estate companies going bankrupt and benchmark real estate companies facing difficulties in operation.

however, yan yuejin, research director of e-house research institute, believes that "when wang zhenhua was sentenced to prison, sunac china holdings did not expand its land acquisition significantly, which actually saved its life. if it had expanded significantly at that time, coupled with the wang zhenhua incident and the market changes since 2020, sunac china holdings might have been in an even more difficult situation than it is now."

compared with many real estate industry players who have gone bankrupt, wang zhenhua's current situation is not the worst after being released from prison, but this does not mean that the sunac china holdings group, which he controls, can rest easy. judging from the financial data released by sunac china holdings, the company's performance is still facing certain operating pressures.

the financial report shows that in the first half of this year, sunac china holdings recorded a revenue of 33.904 billion yuan, a decrease of nearly 20% compared with the revenue of 41.768 billion yuan in the same period last year. this is the third consecutive time that sunac china holdings has reported a decline in interim revenue since the first half of 2022.

sunac china holdings said that as it is in the downward phase of the industry, under the business policy of "stabilizing operations, maintaining value and pursuing development", the company's high-flow projects will ensure supply and low-flow projects will produce according to sales, so that the company can achieve sales with returns and sales returns, and ensure delivery, opening and stable operations with stable cash flow.

in terms of profit, in the first half of this year, sunac china holdings recorded a net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies of rmb 1.318 billion, while the same period last year was as high as rmb 2.279 billion. compared with the 18.83% decline in revenue in the same period, the decline in net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was even more significant, reaching 42.16%.

in addition to performance pressure, wang zhenhua, who has made a low-key "comeback", also needs to be vigilant of potential liquidity risks for the company. the financial report shows that as of the end of the first half of the year, sunac china holdings' short-term loans were 904 million yuan, and non-current liabilities due within one year reached 15.357 billion yuan. during the reporting period, the company has repaid 1.97 billion yuan of domestic and foreign public market bonds as scheduled. as of the end of the period, the company's equity interest-bearing liabilities of joint ventures totaled 3.952 billion yuan.

as of the end of the first half of the year, sunac china holdings had rmb 15.782 billion in cash, compared to rmb 18.971 billion at the end of the previous year. among them, the scale of "pre-sale supervision funds, mortgage loan deposits and letter of guarantee deposits, etc." reached rmb 4.157 billion, compared to rmb 6.15 billion at the beginning of the period. as of the end of the first half of the year, sunac china holdings had a cash and cash equivalent balance of rmb 11.625 billion, compared to rmb 20.335 billion at the end of the first half of last year.

however, sunac china holdings emphasized that during the reporting period, the company's credit status with major banks and other financial institutions was good, and it continued to maintain a long-term partnership with major domestic commercial banks. as of the end of the reporting period, the company had obtained a total credit line of 105.9 billion yuan from major banks, of which the company and its subsidiaries had used 27.5 billion yuan. the company can carry out financing within the above total credit line to support business development.

at the shareholders' meeting of sunac china holdings held at the end of may this year, wang xiaosong, the second-generation helmsman of sunac china holdings, said that the company's public market "explosion" is unlikely to happen, and it will focus on repaying credit bonds. regarding the shrinking scale, wang xiaosong frankly said, "there is no need to make up for the scale," but also expressed the hope to use the ongoing projects and construction agency business to retain the team and wait for opportunities to develop business.

after the second generation took charge of the company for many years and wang zhenhua returned to the center of power in a low-key manner, where will the future of the sunac china holdings group head? radar finance will continue to pay attention.