Wang Shi, the 75-year-old founder of Vanke, has once again entered the real estate industry. In recent years, Vanke has experienced turmoil in its operations, with Wang Shi being rumored to be missing or arrested multiple times, which he had publicly denied.
According to a report by the Chinese media “Red Star News” on October 2nd, it was revealed that on September 28th, Shenzhen Shenshi Urban Renewal Limited Company (“Shenshi Renewal Company”) was established, with a registered capital of 15 million yuan. The company’s scope of operations includes commercial complex management services, property management, and housing leasing. Wang Shi indirectly holds a 19.99% stake in Shenshi Renewal Company through Shenshi Management Consulting (Shenzhen) Limited Company, and also serves as the chairman of Shenshi Renewal Company.
Born in 1951, Wang Shi founded Shenzhen Modern Educational Equipment Exhibition and Sales Center in 1984, which was the predecessor of Vanke, and served as the general manager. After Vanke transformed into a shareholder company in 1988, Wang Shi became the chairman and general manager of the board of directors. From 1999 to 2017, he was the chairman of Vanke’s board of directors. Following about two years of a shareholder struggle, Vanke introduced Shenzhen Metro as the group’s major shareholder in 2017. That same year in June, Wang Shi stepped down as chairman and assumed the position of honorary chairman of the board of directors, no longer participating in company governance.
As Vanke’s operations have been in turmoil, Wang Shi has been rumored to be missing or arrested on multiple occasions. In one instance on April 12th this year, there was an online rumor circulating that Wang Shi, the founder of Vanke, had been arrested, with the whistleblower being Qin Feng, the niece of former Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. Wang Shi and his wife later refuted the rumor and warned that the spreaders of false information would be “dealt with by the law,” sparking a heated discussion on the internet.
Vanke reported a loss of 49.48 billion yuan in 2024, followed by a historic net loss of 88.556 billion yuan on the A-share market in 2025, accumulating a total loss exceeding 138 billion yuan over two years. In the first half of 2026, Vanke incurred another loss of 14.95 billion yuan, bringing the total accumulated losses since 2024 to 153 billion yuan.
In recent years, Vanke has faced a debt crisis. Although it extended all its public bonds due at the end of August 2026 and made the first installment repayment, it still carries more than 350 billion yuan in interest-bearing debts, along with nearly 180 billion yuan in various debts due within a year. Amid the continued slump in the real estate market, Vanke still faces an extremely severe dual test of “liquidity and performance.”