Ask AI · How did Zhang Xingang and his childhood shareholder’s “iron triangle” strengthen the foundation of a trillion-dollar market value?

Recently, A-shares have once again seen a surprisingly soaring dark horse—the leading domestic optical chip company Shaanxi Yuanjie Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Yuanjie Technology”).

From January 2025 to March 2026, the company’s stock price surged nearly 700%, not only reaching “thousand-yuan stocks,” but its market value also once broke through 250k yuan. As of the close on April 2, 2026, Yuanjie Technology’s stock price was 1,034 yuan, ranking second among 5,497 listed companies in the A-share market, only behind Kweichow Moutai. Although its total market value has fallen back to 88.87 billion yuan, its price-to-earnings ratio remains as high as 465.47 times. This is even more exaggerated than Cambrian, which has a PE ratio of 204.57 times.

▲Yuanjie Technology’s stock price trend after listing in December 2022

Why does the capital market assign such a high premium to Yuanjie Technology? This stems from three driving forces: seizing the AI computing power wave, building technological barriers under the IDM (vertical integration manufacturing) model, and a revenue surge of 138.5% to 601 million yuan in 2025, with net profit skyrocketing 3,212.62% to 191 million yuan.

But there are not only companies riding the wave; many are also technically leading. Why is Yuanjie Technology so highly sought after? The answer lies beyond financial statements: a technical talent, and two “backing” childhood shareholder partners, forming the “iron triangle.”

01. The “clumsy effort” others dare not touch

One closed door after another was knocked open by a man named Zhang Xingang. He is a Chinese-American, born in 1970, with a Ph.D. in Materials Science from Tsinghua University and the University of Southern California. After graduation, he started as a researcher at a U.S. optical communications company, gradually rising to R&D manager thanks to solid technical skills. In 2013, he returned to his hometown in Xianyang, Shaanxi, rented a factory, and founded Yuanjie Technology.

The high-end indium phosphide laser chip he chose is the core component of high-speed optical communication. It is absolutely central in the era of data explosion, and at that time, it was completely blank domestically. He knew very well that the difficulty of optical chips lies not only in design but also in manufacturing processes. He chose the most difficult path—IDM, meaning the company must independently control the entire industry chain of optical chip R&D and manufacturing, rather than just designing or manufacturing like many semiconductor companies.

The IDM model covers hundreds of processes including chip design and wafer fabrication, requiring companies to have the resolve to “sit on the cold bench” for a long time, with huge investments and long cycles—efforts that others dare not undertake. But Zhang Xingang was confident; he had deeply participated in the full process of optical chip design, wafer manufacturing, and packaging testing, understanding the core logic of the IDM model.

The outlook was promising, but the process was arduous. The team searched for a path to 25G on countless discarded wafer maps. Developing high-speed laser chips of 25G and above is extremely difficult, with process parameters hard to stabilize, leading to low yield and high costs. This was repeatedly emphasized in Yuanjie Technology’s later prospectus, inquiry responses, and industry analyses.

A somewhat amusing proof of the company’s early hardships: a report shows that an old Alto car was sent by Zhang Xingang to pick up at Xi’an Xianyang Airport. When a Japanese supplier representative saw it, they initially suspected a scam and dared not get in the car.

Despite the difficulties, Zhang Xingang remained resolute. An investor who had interacted with him recalled, “He is a typical tech-obsessed engineer, often hiding in the company’s lab doing R&D, rarely socializing.”

After numerous trials and errors, the team finally broke through key processes such as epitaxial growth of 25G high-speed laser chips, achieving full domestic production of high-end indium phosphide laser chips from design to manufacturing. This became Yuanjie Technology’s killer move for the 2018 turnaround.

That year, the 5G era arrived with a roar, and the market urgently needed 25G mid-to-high-speed chips. Yuanjie Technology’s Xianyang factory quickly produced high-performance, high-reliability, mass-producible products, passing rigorous certifications from top equipment vendors like Huawei.

If the 2018 turnaround validated Zhang Xingang’s “hardcore IDM” investment logic, then Huawei’s Hubble “light-speed” investment in Yuanjie Technology in 2020 opened a more critical ecosystem door for him. This was not just a financial investment but a “knock on the door” for Yuanjie Technology to enter the ranks of top global equipment manufacturers.

With support from capital and industry, Zhang Xingang aimed to complete a “thrilling leap” onto the STAR Market. Before listing in 2022, Yuanjie Technology faced significant controversy: IDM is a game for giants, with cyclical performance fluctuations and overly concentrated clients—why wouldn’t such a small company be dragged down by heavy assets? Yet, the STAR Market still opened its doors, based on a clear trade-off: market ultimately favors breakthroughs in hard technology over traditional financial risks.

Listing was not the end but the beginning of even harsher tests. In 2023, the company’s performance stagnated; in 2024, it posted its first loss after going public. Amid difficulties, Zhang Xingang made a key shift: seizing the AI computing wave, shifting focus from telecom to data center high-speed optical chips, and successfully mass-produced 400G/800G CW laser modules. Moreover, Yuanjie Technology deeply partnered with Zhongji Xuchuang, a leading data center optical module company, becoming its largest customer.

This bet paid off. In 2025, Yuanjie Technology’s data center revenue surged 719% to 393 million yuan, accounting for 65% of total revenue, replacing telecom as the new engine. The gross margin of this business reached 72.21%, reversing the company’s profitability. Yuanjie Technology thus transformed from a cyclical stock into a core “seller” of AI computing power.

The capital market responded most directly. From a low of about 87.7 yuan in April 2025 to 1,060 yuan at the close on April 1, 2026, Yuanjie Technology’s stock price soared over tenfold, becoming the 8th thousand-yuan stock in A-shares, the craziest turnaround in A-share history. On March 20, 2026, its market value once exceeded 100 billion yuan. The founder’s wealth also skyrocketed; according to the “2026 Hurun Global Rich List,” Zhang Xingang’s net worth reached 8.5 billion yuan, ranking 3,475th.

02. Two childhood friends and an 8 million yuan loan

If Zhang Xingang’s success lies in daring to bet on the heaviest, most cumbersome path—using technology as a “breakthrough blade”—then behind every “breakthrough” are always two childhood shareholder partners, Qin Yansheng and Qin Weixing, guarding his rear.

Qin Weixing, born in 1970, graduated from Hualin Vocational Rubber College, has always been rooted in manufacturing in Xianyang. His brother Qin Yansheng, born in 1960, has little public information but is Yuanjie Technology’s second-largest individual shareholder. By the end of 2025, the brothers held approximately 5.21% and 5.36% of the company, respectively. Public info shows that Zhang Xingang and the Qin brothers have been childhood friends since growing up together in Xianyang, Shaanxi.

Over more than a decade, Zhang Xingang has led with his technical expertise, while the Qin brothers provided financial backing and shareholder support, forming a stable利益共同体 through equity binding and joint action agreements, jointly pushing Yuanjie Technology from founding to listing and industry leader.

The biggest trust cornerstone was in 2010. That year, Zhang Xingang and the Qin brothers founded Huahan Jingyuan in Beijing, which collapsed due to the misappropriation of funds by general manager Wang Shuo (a childhood friend of Qin Weixing). After experiencing “betrayal by acquaintances,” Zhang Xingang and the Qin brothers did not part ways but handled the aftermath together, then re-established Yuanjie Technology in Xianyang.

The most critical “trust capital”—an 8 million yuan interest-free loan in 2013—was borrowed from Qin Weixing and Qin Yansheng. The prospectus shows that all of Zhang Xingang’s founding capital for Yuanjie Technology came from this, including 2 million yuan in cash. This large sum had no written agreement or interest rate, based solely on a long-standing friendship oral agreement. At that time, the company’s registered capital was 10 million yuan, and this loan accounted for 80%, serving as the lifeline for Yuanjie Technology’s startup.

Starting a business is tough, and support is dynamic. The inquiry responses during Yuanjie Technology’s listing show that in subsequent operations, the Qin brothers and Zhang Xingang still had frequent personal financial exchanges for liquidity. Zhang Xingang once borrowed 250k yuan from Qin Weixing to pay personal income tax in China, due to being abroad and unable to operate conveniently. Such flexible, relationship-based funding support was crucial during the company’s difficult growth phase.

In corporate governance, the three formed a solid core. Legal documents and annual reports for Yuanjie Technology’s listing show that the Qin brothers and Zhang Xingang’s family signed “joint action agreements,” with Zhang Xingang always the actual controller. Qin Weixing, as a director, was evaluated in inquiry responses as “having enough time and energy to participate in company affairs.” Industry consensus holds that their local connections and resources in Xianyang cleared many non-technical obstacles for Yuanjie Technology’s local landing and operation, allowing Zhang Xingang to focus on R&D.

All signs indicate that the Qin brothers’ backing—funding, trust, and operational support—has been a full-process escort for Zhang Xingang and Yuanjie Technology. It exemplifies a narrative in Chinese hard tech entrepreneurship: technical talent defines the ceiling, while local partners build the load-bearing wall.

Today, after the market value once soared to the trillion-yuan peak on the STAR Market, Yuanjie Technology has a new story to tell. On the very day it turned profitable again, March 25, the company, a domestic “thousand-yuan stock” leading optical chip company, submitted an application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, officially launching an “A+H” dual-platform strategy to accelerate global expansion. However, whether this IPO can ultimately succeed remains uncertain, pending approval from Chinese regulators such as the CSRC.

Zhang Xingang, Qin Weixing, and Qin Yansheng—the “iron triangle”—are also facing new, more complex concerns: the “double-edged sword” of highly concentrated clients, the brutal competition of technological iteration, and more. Market analysts also believe that Yuanjie Technology’s competitiveness relies to some extent on Zhang Xingang’s technical judgment, the local support of the Qin brothers, and the unbreakable trust among the three. This combination is unique and effective but also delicate. Any change—be it a misstep in technical route, diminishing local resources, or shifts in wealth and power—could influence the company’s future trajectory.

The extremely high PE ratio embodies the market’s high expectations for this domestic high-end optical chip leader to navigate cycles. For Zhang Xingang and his brothers, safeguarding this “iron triangle” built on technology and trust is as challenging and vital as creating any cutting-edge chip. It will be a silent, enduring stress test they must face after creating a trillion-yuan market value legend.

(Author | Yixi, Editor | Wu Yue, Image source | Visual China, Content from Caijing Tiandi WEEKLY)