Recently, there has been news that the president of Vanke, Zhu Jiusheng, has been taken away, with the media unable to contact him or any relevant personnel. On that day, multiple bonds of Vanke plummeted, triggering a temporary trading halt. Later, Zhu Jiusheng updated his WeChat moments.
According to a report by the Economic Observer, on January 16th, information was obtained from several sources that Zhu Jiusheng, the executive director, president, and CEO of Vanke, was taken away by the public security authorities on January 15th. The relevant work team in Shenzhen has fully intervened in Vanke, and the company may face restructuring.
The report mentioned that multiple attempts to call Zhu Jiusheng’s phone went unanswered, and messages sent were not replied to. There were also unsuccessful attempts to contact Vanke’s board secretary, Zhu Xu, as calls went unanswered and messages were not responded to.
On the market front, on the 16th, five domestic bonds of Vanke saw declines of over 20%, leading to a temporary trading halt.
According to Caifeng News, analysts stated that the bond fluctuations of Vanke may be related to the upcoming peak of debt repayments this year.
Based on DM data, the “22 Vanke MTN001” is due to mature on January 27th with a remaining balance of 3 billion yuan. In February 16th and 25th, Vanke has two bonds maturing with a total balance of 5 billion yuan. In March, Vanke also has two bonds maturing.
Yihan Real Estate Analyst Wang Ling mentioned that in 2025, Vanke will face a peak of debt maturity and repurchase obligations, with the company’s total bonds and medium-term notes amounting to 21.59 billion yuan, nearly 50% of the outstanding bond balance. In 2025, Vanke has 8 medium-term notes maturing, all issued in 2022, totaling 20.7 billion yuan.
Analysts pointed out that Vanke’s debt repayments in the next year heavily rely on whether the future sales environment can improve, but currently, the pressure remains significant. Vanke continues to sell assets to boost liquidity, reduce land holding, and alleviate the difficulty in clearing existing projects, weakening its long-term competitive advantage.
Vanke’s executive director, president, and CEO Zhu Jiusheng updated his WeChat moments early on January 17th, sharing a link. After this update, Caifeng News reported that a brief exchange with Zhu Jiusheng took place over the phone.
Zhu Jiusheng assumed the position of president and CEO of Vanke on January 31, 2018. Currently, he also serves as a non-executive director of Huishang Bank Co., Ltd., an independent non-executive director of Green City (China) Real Estate Investment Co., Ltd., and a director of Kondarl (Group) Co., Ltd. in Shenzhen.
Vanke is one of the most renowned real estate developers in mainland China. According to the company’s announcement on January 3, 2025, Vanke’s contracted sales area in 2024 dropped significantly by 26.57% year-on-year, and the contracted sales amount also decreased by 34.59%.
Vanke’s third-quarter report for 2024 showed that in the first three quarters of that year, its revenue was 77.116 billion yuan, while the net profit suffered a loss of 8.09 billion yuan. These figures represent a year-on-year decrease of 24.25% and 231.73%, respectively.
Since the Evergrande crisis in 2021, liquidity issues have spread across the mainland real estate industry, deteriorating the purchasing demand and financing environment, making it difficult for most real estate enterprises to ensure cash flow security. Vanke is no exception, facing significant debt repayment pressure and experiencing stock and bond fluctuations frequently.