Summary of Key Points
Chen Shunjun, the former chairman of Yao Yigou, resigned due to the failure to fully disclose information about his related parties, becoming the second chairman in the A-share market to resign for this reason. Through direct and indirect shareholding, he controlled a network of more than 50 companies that had equity ties with Yao Yigou and engaged in significant procurement transactions with the company (with expected procurement amounts exceeding 250 million yuan in 2026, accounting for 41% of all related-party transactions). Before his resignation, Yao Yigou had already exposed several risks: accounting errors in its financial reports for 2022-2024 that needed to be corrected (which were postponed three times without being disclosed), a shift from profit to loss in 2025, and an audit institution issuing a qualified opinion. Currently, Zhou Yuewu, the husband of Li Yanfei (the founder of Yao Yigou), has taken over as the chairman, and the Li Yanfei family has regained control of the company.
Detailed Analysis
1. Resignation Due to Liability: A Rare Case in the A-share Market, with Information Concealment as the Culprit
Chen Shunjun's resignation was due to his failure to disclose all information about his related companies to the company. Listed companies require executives to reveal their related parties (such as companies they invest in or control) to prevent the transfer of benefits (for example, using company funds to purchase products from their own companies, which could harm the interests of other shareholders). He is the second chairman in the A-share market to resign publicly due to this issue; the previous case was in 2019, when the chairman of Shenzhen Datong resigned for violently obstructing regulatory efforts.
It is worth noting that Chen Shunjun did not completely leave the company after his resignation; he remains involved in management, focusing on "innovative growth initiatives," but no longer holds an executive position. He joined Yao Yigou in 2021 and only became chairman in July 2025, with a term ending in 2028. His resignation within just one year highlights the seriousness of the problems.
2. The Network of Related Companies: Over 50 Companies with Ties to Yao Yigou
Chen Shunjun's related companies are not just a few; they form a complex network:
- Direct and Indirect Shareholding: He does not directly hold shares in many companies, but through two core companies, "Shen Niao Huan Yu" and "Shen Niao Shi Ji," he indirectly invested in 54 other companies (for example, "Shen Niao Shi Ji" holds 99% of "Shen Niao Shu Zhi," which in turn invests in 11 subsidiaries).
- Equity Ties with Yao Yigou: Yao Yigou is a shareholder in "Shen Niao Huan Yu" (holding 7.94% of the shares); in 2019, Yao Yigou and Chen Shunjun jointly held shares in "Shen Niao Shi Ji" (10% vs 90%). Yao Yigou has also made multiple acquisitions and capital injections into his related companies—for instance, in November 2025, it invested 8 million yuan in "Shen Niao Shang Yi Yun," and in July this year, it acquired "Shan Song Yi Gou" (a company with negative net assets) for 1 yuan.
If these related relationships had not been disclosed, investors would have been completely unaware of the extent of the company's connections with the chairman's businesses.
3. Related-Party Transactions: Increasing Amounts Year by Year, with Some Companies Dependent on Yao Yigou for Survival
Chen Shunjun's related companies have received a large number of orders from Yao Yigou:
- Surging Procurement Amounts: The amount increased from 3.77 million yuan in 2021 to 30 million yuan in 2025, and is expected to exceed 250 million yuan in 2026 (accounting for 41% of all related-party transactions). For example, "Shen Niao Shi Ji" received nearly all of its revenue in 2024 (20.6 million yuan out of 21.86 million yuan) from Yao Yigou; "Zhen Tu Jian Kang" lost 340,000 yuan in 2024 but turned a profit of 3.11 million yuan after receiving a 5.82 million yuan order from Yao Yigou in 2025.
- **Acquisitions of "Problematic Companies at Low Prices": In July this year, Yao Yigou acquired "Shan Song Yi Gou" for 1 yuan, a company with negative net assets of 61,000 yuan—this transaction seems highly questionable in terms of its rationale.
If these related-party transactions had not been disclosed, they could have been interpreted as an instance of "benefit transfer," with the company using its funds to subsidize the chairman's businesses.
4. Risks Before the Resignation: Financial Report Errors and Declining Performance, with Auditors Hesitant to Confer
Before Chen Shunjun's resignation, Yao Yigou's problems were becoming increasingly evident:
- Financial Report Errors: In April this year, the company suddenly announced that there were errors in its financial reports for 2022-2024 (such as issues with the scope of consolidated statements and bad debt provisions), which needed to be corrected, but the results were postponed three times without being disclosed. The auditing firm, Xin Yong Zhong He, issued a qualified opinion, indicating that the errors might be significant and the accuracy of the financial statements could not be confirmed.
- Performance Decline: The company's performance has been declining since its listing in 2021, with net profits dropping by 72% in 2024 and a loss of 12.85 million yuan in 2025. The first half of 2026 also saw a further loss of 9.52 million yuan. Despite these difficulties, the company's purchases from related parties continued to increase, which is illogical.
- Regulatory Attention: In May this year, the company received a regulatory letter from the exchange due to a significant discrepancy between its performance forecasts and actual data, indicating that its claims did not match its actions.
5. Power Transfer: The Li Yanfei Family Takes Control, and the Company's Future is Uncertain
After Chen Shunjun's resignation, Zhou Yuewu, the husband of Li Yanfei (the founder of Yao Yigou), took over as chairman. Together, they hold 40.42% of the company's shares (plus additional shares held by those acting in concert, totaling over 43%), effectively giving the Li Yanfei family control again.
However, the company's problems remain unresolved: the financial report corrections are not complete, the audit opinion is unfavorable, and the company continues to suffer losses from related-party transactions. Whether Zhou Yuewu can turn the situation around is uncertain for investors, especially considering that the company had hoped to leverage Chen Shunjun's expertise in AI and new retail strategies for transformation, but instead faced numerous issues.
Conclusion
Chen Shunjun's resignation is essentially a result of a trust crisis caused by the failure to disclose related-party information. Yao Yigou now faces not only the need to correct its financial reports but also to address the issues associated with related-party transactions and the ongoing decline in performance. Whether the Li Yanfei family can rebuild investor confidence remains to be seen. For ordinary investors, companies with opaque related-party transactions and financial report errors represent significant risks.