Jianfa Lin Weiguo stated, "The market is highly uncertain; we will proceed cautiously," and the Lighthouse project has performed well overall in sales.

Interface News reporter | Wang Tingting

On March 27, Xiamen Jianfa Real Estate’s controlling subsidiary Jianfa International (01908.HK) held an investor meeting. Lin Weiguo, chairman of the board, said the company’s “Lighthouse Strategy” was rolled out simultaneously last year in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Xiamen. Among them, the Shanghai and Beijing and Xiamen projects have already achieved presales, and overall sales performance has been relatively strong.

The Chengdu project opened for sale in February this year, with good de-stocking performance and the selling price ranking in the top-tier group in the Chengdu market. Lin Weiguo noted that “there are small differences in profit levels among the various lighthouse projects, but the overall average profit margin exceeds 10%.”

Over the past year, affected by the deep adjustment of the real estate market, Jianfa—also a “dark horse” property developer—did not achieve its expected growth targets. According to financial report data, for the year ended December 31, 2025, the group recorded total revenue of approximately RMB 136.79 billion, down 4.3% year over year, a decrease of RMB 6.20 billion; of this, revenue from the property development business was approximately RMB 132.36 billion, down 4.5% year over year, a decrease of RMB 6.26 billion.

On the profit side, as of the end of the reporting period, in 2025, Jianfa International’s net profit was RMB 5.54 billion, down 13.3% year over year. Net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 3.65 billion, down 24% year over year. The decline in net profit attributable to shareholders was mainly related to changes in the equity proportion of impairment loss provisions and profit recognition/transfer in 2025.

Data from the China Index Academy shows that in 2025, Jianfa Real Estate recorded sales revenue of RMB 122.08 billion, ranking seventh in the industry, behind Poly Developments and Holdings, Greentown, China Overseas, China Resources, China Merchants Shekou, and Vanke.

Lin Weiguo explained that the annual target set by management was RMB 150 billion. “That target is not low, and it is also to achieve growth in sales scale compared with 2024—that is the team’s core goal.” “There is a certain gap between the actual sales revenue in 2025 and the target; this was mainly due to the deep adjustment in the market, especially the weak performance in the second half of last year.”

In his view, in the first half of 2025, Jianfa had already recorded sales revenue of over RMB 70 billion, and investment expansion performed well in the same period. In the second half, the planned supply volume was about RMB 100 billion. The originally planned target was RMB 80 billion. At the semiannual performance time, management still had confidence in achieving the full-year target. However, the overall market remained sluggish for a sustained period; even in first-tier cities, home prices fell after National Day, creating significant pressure on sales, and ultimately full-year performance fell short of expectations.

Therefore, for the new year, Jianfa has decided not to set a target—“move forward while observing.”

“Uncertainty in this year’s market is high, so at the operational level we will also adopt a strategy of observing and adjusting as we go. To be frank, under the current market environment, it is more difficult to set specific sales targets for 2026 in a clear way.” Jianfa International’s management said, “If there’s an opportunity, we’ll do a bit more to keep our position in the industry steady.”

According to Interface News, in 2025 Jianfa changed its previous land-acquisition strategy. Instead, it focused on higher-tier capabilities and deeper cultivation in cities, with key layouts in core cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Chengdu, and within Fujian Province. Over the full year, it acquired 40 land parcels cumulatively, with newly added attributable value of RMB 130.4 billion.

But judging by sales results, Jianfa’s development focus is no longer on Xiamen.

Interface News found that over the past two years, Jianfa’s earnings structure has been undergoing major changes. The contribution proportion of its headquarters base in Xiamen to overall sales has continued to decline, dropping from having been once ranked first to gradually falling behind to fourth place, after the three cities of Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Shanghai. Moreover, in Xiamen, Jianfa historically had at least maintained sales of at least RMB 10 billion, but by 2025 this figure was RMB 7.85 billion, down sharply by 70.8% year over year.

“We are a company headquartered in Xiamen, so we will certainly and must continue to deeply cultivate this market over the long term.” Lin Weiguo believes that Xiamen, as a coastal market and an economic special zone, has adjusted more significantly in recent years amid industry changes. Demand has shrunk more noticeably, and market elasticity is relatively high—quite different from other stable-type markets.

So in Xiamen, Jianfa’s land-acquisition strategy is “determine production based on sales, and replenish stock as needed.” “At the same time, leveraging the advantages of local enterprises, we connect with the government in advance and conduct in-depth communication on land quota, development conditions, and other aspects, forming strong localized advantages in land acquisition and development.”

Looking ahead, Jianfa will continue to supplement its land reserves in Xiamen in line with the market’s de-stocking pace. It is not stopping land acquisition; it will actively strive for favorable land, supporting facilities, and planning conditions to ensure smooth progress in operations.

Overall, in the face of industry uncertainty, in 2026 Jianfa will remain relatively cautious in investment and land acquisition. “Unlock existing assets, optimize incremental additions, and solidify core competitiveness.”

Lin Weiguo believes that as of now, the liquidity of Jianfa’s land reserves and the overall scale of land reserve holdings are fairly considerable.

Financial report data show that as of the end of 2025, Jianfa International’s total inventory area of land reserves was 11.47 million square meters, with inventory attributable value of about RMB 221.7 billion, and an equity proportion of about 77%. Among them, land-acquisition projects started in 2022 and after account for 83% of inventory.

“Overall, after a period of market adjustment, it has gradually entered the stage of bottoming repair.” Jianfa management believes that the current market is in a “small spring” phase. This can be seen as a round of mild nationwide recovery. Both new home and secondhand home transaction volumes have clearly rebounded, but the sustainability still needs to be observed.

In its view, every year in March and April, a “small spring” phase usually appears. Whether it can continue afterward depends mainly on the transaction performance after the “May Day” holiday. “But this round of ‘small spring’ this year is relatively special: in the context where the country has not yet introduced large-scale, broadly applicable favorable policies, the market’s spontaneous recovery has relatively positive significance for the real estate market.”

In response to new changes, for the new year Jianfa emphasizes that it should strengthen sales cash collection, improve market share. With market share as the goal, it will rebuild the marketing system to stabilize the sales scale. It will adhere to a “collect to fund spending” approach and strengthen cash flow management.

Second, it will expand incremental growth and improve the precision of investment. “Sales-to-investment” means getting the timing right, capturing structural opportunities in the land market, improving the precision and realization rate of land acquisition, and emphasizing that investment intensity should be reasonably matched with assets and liabilities.

Third, it will continue to innovate and enhance core competitiveness, continuously strengthening the company’s product leadership and differentiated advantages. It will also take lighthouse projects as the leading example to drive improvements in quality and reputation of conventional projects, seize the early opportunity for development in market competition, and create more “good homes” that are recognized by more customers’ minds.