by WANG Yuhan
China's Vanke Co Ltd, one of the country's largest residential developers, said on Monday that chairman XIN Jie has resigned after less than a year in the role, as the debt-laden company works to steady operations with support from top shareholder Shenzhen Metro Group.
The board said Xin stepped down as non-executive director and chairman for personal reasons and would no longer hold any position. Vanke said he held no shares and had no disagreement with the board.
HUANG Liping, 57, general manager of Shenzhen Metro, will succeed him. A veteran of Shenzhen's state-owned sector, Huang has sat on Vanke's board since 2021 and previously headed Shenzhen Talent Housing Group. Analysts said the move "ensures continuity and stability" and will not slow the company's restructuring.
Xin, 59, spent more than two decades in Shenzhen's state-owned network. He became chairman of Shenzhen Metro in 2017, after the group became Vanke's biggest shareholder following a takeover battle with Baoneng Group, a private conglomerate. Xin took over at Vanke in January 2025, during a liquidity crunch triggered by the resignation of then-chairman YU Liang, who had led the firm for nearly a decade.
Liquidity and rating pressure
Vanke faces mounting debt, with short-term borrowings of 23.1 billion yuan (about US$3.2 billion) and 134.7 billion yuan of long-term debt maturing within one year at end-June, against 69.3 billion yuan in cash — a funding gap of over 88 billion yuan.
To ease liquidity stress, Shenzhen Metro, a state-owned conglomerate, has provided nine shareholder loans totaling more than 25 billion yuan, most at below-market rates. The latest, announced in September, was worth up to 2.06 billion yuan for three years at LPR minus 66 basis points, or about 2.34%.
Fitch Ratings in August cut Vanke to CCC-, a deeply speculative grade, citing negative cash flow and reliance on shareholder support to meet 14 billion yuan in 2025 maturities and 12 billion yuan in 2026.
Next steps
Backed by Shenzhen Metro's funding, Vanke has regained short-term stability since 2025. In the first half, it reported revenue of 105.3 billion yuan, nearly 70 billion yuan in sales, and on-time repayment of all onshore bonds. Offshore public debts have been cleared, with no maturities due in the next two years.
The company aims to improve liquidity through faster project turnover, asset sales and securitization while seeking additional bank credit.
Huang's appointment marks a new phase in Vanke's restructuring under Shenzhen Metro's leadership. Whether the new leadership can restore confidence and rebuild self-sustaining cash flow will determine the next chapter for one of China's most-watched developers.
