Performance reaches a new high, but the control rights face unexpected changes! Chifeng Gold Chairman's Annual Report "Reflection": After shedding the benefits of rising gold prices, how substantial is the intrinsic growth?

Every reporter｜Xu Shuai Every editor｜Huang Sheng

On the evening of March 20, Chifeng Gold (SH600988) disclosed its annual report for last year, delivering a record revenue of 12.6 billion yuan and a net profit increase of 75%.

However, before the “strongest annual report” was released, Chifeng Gold faced a shift in control. The company’s actual controller, Li Jinyang, is planning to transfer her shares. The widow, who inherited the founder’s legacy just four years ago, has chosen to “retire bravely” during the peak performance period. At this sensitive moment, the outside world finds it difficult to speculate on her true intentions, but last year’s annual report saw Chairman Wang Jianhua provide a systematic summary of the past few years, with some emotional and direct wording. Key phrases he mentioned include: “If we strip away the benefits of rising gold prices, what is the true quality of our internal growth?” He emphasized, “Indulging in past achievements does not help solve future problems.”

Net profit surged by 74.7%, Chifeng Gold releases “strongest annual report”

On the evening of March 20, the gold leader Chifeng Gold, with a market value exceeding 70 billion yuan, disclosed its annual report for 2025, which can be considered the “strongest annual report” since the company’s establishment.

Chifeng Gold achieved an operating revenue of 12.639 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 40.03%. The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company reached 3.082 billion yuan, an increase of 74.70% compared to 1.764 billion yuan in the same period last year.

By industry, the core mining business achieved an operating revenue of 12.412 billion yuan, with a gross profit margin of 53.60%, an increase of 8.62 percentage points from the previous year. Among them, the performance of mined gold was particularly outstanding, achieving an operating revenue of 11.339 billion yuan, with a gross profit margin reaching 58.51%, a significant increase of 11.55 percentage points year-on-year. On the cost side, the all-in sustaining cost (AISC) for mined gold in 2025 was 372.63 yuan/gram, a year-on-year increase of 32.52%.

By the end of 2025, the company’s total assets reached 24.981 billion yuan, an increase of 22.89% from the beginning of the year. Thanks to operational accumulation and funds raised from the Hong Kong stock market, the company’s debt ratio significantly decreased from 47.25% at the beginning of the year to 33.91%, a decrease of 13.34 percentage points. The balance of interest-bearing liabilities was approximately 878 million yuan, a decrease of 67.45% from the beginning of the year. The net cash flow generated from operating activities was 5.556 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 69.97%.

Of the company’s main business income, about 71.20% came from overseas mines. Among them, overseas regions achieved revenue of 8.988 billion yuan, with a gross profit margin of 45.85%; domestic regions achieved revenue of 3.635 billion yuan, with a gross profit margin of 68.93%.

Chifeng Gold achieved dual growth in both retained resources and reserves in 2025. As of December 31, 2025, the retained gold resources of Chifeng Gold reached 512 tons, an increase of 31% from the end of 2024; the gold reserves were 105.76 tons, a year-on-year increase of 41%. In terms of production, Chifeng Gold mined 15.16 tons of gold in 2024, ranking fifth in the country. However, other gold-listed companies have not yet released their annual reports, and Chifeng Gold’s ranking for last year remains uncertain.

Returning to the tasks mentioned in last year’s annual report, the company’s gold production and sales target for 2026 is 14.7 tons, and the target for electrolytic copper is 11,000 tons. The company emphasizes that 2026 is a critical year for laying the foundation for production increases from 2028 to 2030.

Actual controller already plans to exit before the annual report disclosure

At the historic peak of operating performance, the actual controller of Chifeng Gold chose to retire bravely. Before disclosing last year’s annual report, the company’s stock was suspended. Li Jinyang and her concerted actors are planning to transfer their shares in the company, which may lead to a change in control.

Li Jinyang, 43 years old, is the widow of Chifeng Gold’s founder Zhao Meiguang, both hailing from Jilin City, Jilin Province. Zhao Meiguang passed away due to illness in December 2021 at the age of 59, and all of his estate was inherited solely by Li Jinyang, thus changing the actual controller of the company to her.

As of the end of the third quarter of 2025, Li Jinyang and her concerted actors held a total of 12.73% of Chifeng Gold’s shares. Based on a market value of 77.6 billion yuan before the suspension, this portion of equity is valued at approximately 9.87 billion yuan.

In fact, Li Jinyang has been less involved in the operational affairs of Chifeng Gold and has emphasized full cooperation with the management team led by Chairman Wang Jianhua, adhering to the company’s strategic development plans. From the beginning of her shareholding, she has communicated a strong willingness to exit. Just three months after becoming the actual controller, in March 2022, Li Jinyang signed a share transfer agreement with a trust plan to transfer 5.77% of her shares at 16.79 yuan/share, stating that this move aimed to optimize the equity structure, introduce strategic investors, and raise funds to repay debts.

Chairman mentions “If we strip away the benefits of rising gold prices, what is the true quality of our internal growth?”

Since the 2024 annual report, Chifeng Gold has added a segment for the chairman’s address in its annual report. Compared to the previous year, the 2025 address is more emotional, with more summaries of the past few years.

In the address of the 2024 annual report, Chairman Wang Jianhua focused on articulating the organizational logic and benefit distribution mechanism of the team. He briefly introduced the core team that contributed to the company’s achievements, sharing the vision and philosophy upheld by the team.

At that time, he emphasized that the company is committed to “allowing owners, operators, and workers to work together and share the results,” and continuously promotes worker shareholding, allowing value-creating workers to genuinely participate in capital gains. He proposed that the management team adhere to the principle of “zero privilege, zero power gains,” giving the highest treatment priority to frontline workers, and promoting the growth of internal leaders into true entrepreneurs.

In the 2025 annual report, Wang Jianhua repeatedly mentioned “releasing goodwill” in his address, viewing it as the greatest certainty in responding to external uncertainties. He explicitly stated: “All changes in the company will revolve around the management theme of ‘releasing goodwill, everything for the people.’”

In terms of organizational governance, he candidly expressed his rejection of bureaucratic style and firmly denied “indifferent privilege”: “The company adheres to the concept of management being about allowing the team to fully release goodwill, despising indifferent privilege, and the executives living and eating on the frontline with miners, strictly implementing audits and supervision of executives’ personal expenses.” He emphasized that a righteous atmosphere becoming the norm and forming a habit is essential for the company to become an object that investors can follow long-term.

In 2025, Chifeng Gold achieved a record high in net profit, but during this explosive performance period, Wang Jianhua displayed a profound sense of crisis and systematic self-reflection.

In his address, he threw out a reflection to the management and investors: If we strip away the benefits of rising gold prices, what is the true quality of our internal growth? He warned the team that indulging in past achievements does not help solve future problems, and 2026 still faces many challenges, including geopolitical issues, resource competition, and cost control.

He reiterated the “only invest in gold” direction established at the end of 2019, committing to being a focused and professional gold mining company. He lamented that the divestment of non-mineral assets at that time was a “heroic sacrifice,” but it was precisely this determination to “do the long-term right thing” that allowed the company to align with today’s trend of gold prices and prepare for greater fluctuations in the future. “No extraordinary efficiency and effectiveness changes mean just getting by; significant changes mean we have put in our heart and effort.”

Finally, he mentioned that in the future, efforts will continue to significantly improve operational performance, enhance miners’ treatment, and increase cash dividends, sharing development results with shareholders and workers.

Public information shows that Wang Jianhua was born in 1956, holds a master’s degree in business administration, and is a senior economist. His career history is extremely rich, having held leadership positions in several industry-leading enterprises.

In the early days, Wang Jianhua served as the general manager and party secretary of the Shandong Silk Import and Export Company. After entering the mining industry, he served as chairman and party secretary of Shandong Gold Group Co., Ltd. After retiring in 2013, he was hired as a director and president of Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd. (from June 2013 to December 2016), and then served as chairman of Yunnan Baiyao Holdings Co., Ltd. (from April 2017 to May 2018). In September 2018, Wang Jianhua joined Chifeng Gold as a director and has served as the company’s chairman since December 2019.

Cover image source: Every media resource library