Recently, the headquarters of Shenzhen Jinyafu Holdings Group Co., Ltd., one of the top 500 companies in China, was found empty, leaving investors helpless in the aftermath of the collapse of its closely associated gold trading company. Local authorities have stepped in to investigate the situation, with lawyers suggesting that the company may have illegally absorbed public deposits.
Investors from various provinces across the country revealed on December 17th to the Daily Economic News that they had purchased gold from Jinyafu in the past and entrusted the gold to Shenzhen Boyao Chongjin Guarantee Investment Co., Ltd., a company closely linked to Jinyafu, to earn investment returns.
One investor, using the alias Wei Hongbo, first engaged with the project through a Jinyafu offline store in 2023. He disclosed that the investment required signing two contracts: one for purchasing gold from Jinyafu and another to entrust the gold to Shenzhen Boyao for investment purposes. Upon maturity of the investment period, the company was supposed to return the principal along with interest. However, throughout the process, Wei never physically saw the purchased gold.
In November of this year, Wei discovered that an investment of over 2 million yuan was not being paid on time, adding up to a total investment amount exceeding 7 million yuan. “I mortgaged several houses for investment, and now I am very anxious,” said Wei.
Another investor, using the alias Liu Shuyi, had invested a relatively smaller amount. She mentioned that around 2018, she had participated in a similar project with Jinyafu, paused investing for a few years, and then reinvested 300,000 yuan in January 2025 through a “gold trust” scheme, set to mature in January 2026.
Following the delay in returns, some investors noticed that Shenzhen Boyao, which they thought was a third-party entity, had various connections with Jinyafu.
Tianyancha data showed that Shenzhen Boyao was established in 2015, and its shareholders and key personnel include Xie Huizhen and Qiu Rongyuan. An article from the Jinyafu Group’s WeChat public account in 2021 displayed a photo of an employee named Qiu Rongyuan with eight years of service.
Qiu Rongyuan and Xie Huizhen indirectly held shares in Guangdong Huatai Nongxing Agricultural Products Trading Center Co., Ltd., where Qiu Rongyuan and Xie Huizhen served as shareholders and director, respectively.
Reports indicated that several Jinyafu employees stated that they had not received salary payments and reimbursements for two to three months. A source related to Jinyafu mentioned the situation as “not optimistic,” but the company was taking action. Currently, the company is in communication with government departments to discuss potential solutions.
On the evening of December 17th, journalists from the Daily Economic News visited the headquarters of Jinyafu as displayed on the company’s official website, only to find the office doors wide open and the place nearly emptied. The sign with “Jinyafu” had been removed from the front desk.
A notice dated December 12th at the property center in front of the office stated that Jinyafu had evacuated, terminating its lease with the World Financial Center building.
On the morning of December 18th, the same media personnel contacted the relevant department in Yantian District, Shenzhen, posing as investors. The staff announced that the government had fully intervened, hired accountants to liquidate the company’s assets, and recommended investors to report the incident to the police.
Jinyafu’s official website disclosed that the company was established in 2006, based in Shenzhen, operating in the gold and jewelry industry, offering a range of services from cultural creativity, smart manufacturing, personalized customization, intelligent retail, gold recycling, refining, and warehouse logistics, becoming a one-stop precious metal comprehensive service provider.
In September 2025, with a revenue of 56.12 billion yuan in 2024, Jinyafu re-entered the “Top 500 Chinese Enterprises” list, ranking 437th.
The Daily Economic News learned from investors that Jinyafu had proposed some solutions, including project extensions and converting funds into company shares, which the investors were not satisfied with.
Liu Shuyi mentioned that converting funds involves transforming the investment into shares of another related company of Jinyafu, and she expressed doubts about the actual value and future development capability of the company. Other investors, with investments exceeding millions of yuan, shared the same skepticism and were awaiting further solutions.
According to Liao Huayong, a lawyer from the Guangdong Tiansuo Law Firm, the involved company, through activities like fake gold consumption, engaged in financing activities without the approval of the financial regulatory authorities, promising fixed returns. This behavior, with characteristics of “illegality, publicity, inducement, and social impact,” is suspected of constituting the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits. Liao recommended victims to promptly report to the public security organs and actively safeguard their legal rights.
On November 24th, the Shenzhen Finance WeChat public account posted an article stating that some illegal individuals and unscrupulous enterprises were illegally raising funds, committing fraud, gambling, and operating illegally under the guise of physical gold trading through schemes like “gold trust,” “gold leasing,” and “gold investment.”