Former chairman of Greentown China, Zhang Yadong, who stepped down just two months ago, was intercepted and taken away by personnel from relevant departments of the Chinese Communist Party at the Hong Kong International Airport while en route to Canada.
In the morning of March 27th, Greentown China (03900.HK), which had been suspended from trading for three days, announced the resignation of its chairman, Zhang Yadong. The announcement stated that Zhang Yadong submitted his resignation on March 21st due to work arrangements. The board of directors decided to appoint Liu Chengyun as chairman starting from March 26th.
According to “Market Information,” multiple sources recently revealed that about two months after resigning, Zhang Yadong was precisely intercepted by relevant department personnel at the Hong Kong airport last month as he was waiting at the boarding gate to fly to Vancouver, Canada.
Reportedly, after careful verification by staff, it was confirmed that the individual intercepted was the former chairman of Greentown China, Zhang Yadong. Witnesses and circulating accounts suggest that after approximately 11 minutes of conversation with the staff, Zhang Yadong was reluctantly taken away from the boarding gate and missed his flight to Canada. The specific reason and nature of his removal (whether it was repatriation or taken away for investigation) remain unclear with no official information available at the moment.
The report also mentioned that in March of this year, Zhang Yadong voluntarily resigned, stunning the real estate industry. While the market was still speculating on where he would head next, the scene of him being “repatriated” and taken away at the Hong Kong airport sparked much imagination.
Liu Chengyun, aged 56, has been working at China Communications Construction for a long time and has been a member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of China Communications Construction Group since June 2023.
Zhang Yadong, 57 years old, had a long career in Dalian’s officialdom before joining Greentown, holding positions such as Deputy Party Secretary and Mayor of Pulandian City, Liaoning Province, as well as various roles in the Dalian municipal government. In 2016, he was transferred to the state-owned enterprise China Communications Construction Group, and in 2018, he became the executive director and CEO of Greentown Group. After resigning in March of this year, Zhang Yadong had led this 300 billion RMB level real estate company for nearly seven years.
Greentown China, initially founded by Song Weiping as a private real estate company, gradually came under the control of China Communications Construction, a central state-owned enterprise, after being listed in Hong Kong, leading to Song Weiping’s gradual withdrawal.
According to a report by Caixin Net on June 27th, both the Chairman and General Manager of China Communications Construction Group were replaced on the same day. Song Hailiang, former Party Committee Secretary and Chairman of China Energy Construction Group Limited, assumed the roles of Party Committee Secretary and Chairman of China Communications Construction Group, while Zhang Bingnan, former Deputy Party Secretary, Director, and General Manager of China National Forest Group Limited, became the Deputy Party Committee Secretary, Director, and General Manager of China Communications Construction Group.
On the day of this personnel adjustment, as reported by “China Real Estate News,” on June 26th, Wang Tongzhou, former Chairman of China Communications Construction Group, was taken away. The whereabouts of General Manager Wang Haihuai have yet to be disclosed.
On June 14th, the fifth session of the fiftieth meeting of the fifth board of directors of China Communications Construction Group announced that Wang Haihuai was on leave due to unforeseen circumstances. Former chairman of China Communications Construction Group, Liu Qitao, and the former chairman of its subsidiary, China Communications Real Estate, Li Yong, have also gone missing.