Zhang Xin's 10-Year Sword Forging Breakthrough into Optical Chip "No-Man's Land" - SourceJet Technology Revenue Reaches 600 Million, Stock Price Breaks 1000 Yuan, Overtaking Cambricon

AI · How the wave of AI computing power is catalyzing the rise of domestic leaders in optical chips?

Changjiang Business Daily News ●Reporter Shen Yourong

The mysterious and low-profile Zhang Xinggang has recently attracted high market attention.

On March 20, the stock price of Yuanjie Technology (688498.SH) exceeded 1,100 yuan per share, surpassing “Cold King” Cambrian, making it the second-highest priced stock in the A-share market after Kweichow Moutai, with a market value of 95.831 billion yuan.

By April 2025, Yuanjie Technology’s market value was only 7.5 billion yuan.

From 7.5 billion to nearly 1 trillion yuan—this meteoric rise was made possible by the founder, Zhang Xinggang.

A Tsinghua top student, PhD from USC, forged through the global optical communications industry’s “military academy”—Luminent, Zhang Xinggang has a series of dazzling credentials. In 2013, he chose to start his second venture in Xianyang, Shaanxi, founding Yuanjie Technology. After ten years of effort, he finally broke through in the optical chip field, ending overseas monopolies on high-end optical chips, and Yuanjie Technology became a domestic replacement leader.

By 2025, benefiting from explosive demand for computing power, the A-share market’s “Yizhongtian” rapidly rose, with Zhongji Xuchuang earning over 10 billion yuan and its stock price soaring. Yuanjie Technology was a supplier to Zhongji Xuchuang, thus completing its leap.

In 2025, Yuanjie Technology achieved a profit of 191 million yuan, a 32-fold increase year-over-year, turning losses into gains.

As Yuanjie’s stock price surged, Zhang Xinggang’s personal wealth exceeded 10 billion yuan, and he appeared on the billionaire list for the first time in 2026.

Yuanjie’s rolling P/E ratio is 955.36 times. With a revenue of 600 million yuan, can it support a nearly trillion-yuan market cap? As the actual controller, chairman, and general manager, Zhang Xinggang faces a test.

Tsinghua Top Student Breaks Through Optical Chips in 10 Years

Zhang Xinggang’s success hinges on “staying patient and working hard for ten years.”

He is a typical science and engineering man—low-key, pragmatic, obsessed with technology. Public information shows he was born in 1970, graduated from Tsinghua University, then went to the U.S. for further study, earning a PhD in Materials Science from USC.

In 2001, just before the internet bubble burst, Zhang Xinggang joined Luminent (later merged into Suresight Optoelectronics) as a R&D engineer, beginning his deep connection with optical chips.

Starting from the grassroots, he rose to become R&D manager, deeply involved in the entire process from design, epitaxy, to manufacturing and packaging/testing, mastering the core logic of the IDM model. In 2007, after Luminent merged with Feichuangbo to form Suresight Optoelectronics, Zhang was appointed R&D director, leading multiple breakthroughs in high-speed optical chip technology, becoming a top expert in the global optical chip field.

In 2010, Suresight was sold to private equity firm Francisco. Zhang faced a choice: return to China to start his own business. During his time as R&D director, he saw clearly the pain points of China’s optical communications industry: China is the world’s largest producer of optical modules, but the core high-speed optical chips have long been monopolized by overseas giants.

His first entrepreneurial attempt failed. In November 2010, as a foreign natural person shareholder, he established Huahan Jingyuan Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. in Beijing, with other shareholders including childhood friend Qin Yansheng, Qin Weixing brothers, and Qin Weixing’s elementary school classmate Wang Shuo. Due to internal misappropriation of funds, the company halted operations, leading to failure.

The betrayal by “insiders” did not dampen Zhang Xinggang’s entrepreneurial spirit. In 2013, he moved to Xianyang, Shaanxi, founding Yuanjie Technology, embarking on his second venture and the path of domestic optical chip replacement.

Lack of funds, weak industrial foundation, and international technology blockade made each step extremely difficult for the early-stage entrepreneur.

One anecdote illustrates this: a Japanese supplier was inspecting, and Zhang Xinggang sent an old Opel to pick them up, causing the Japanese supplier to mistake him for a “scammer” and refuse to get in the car.

He insisted on the IDM full industry chain model—covering chip design, wafer manufacturing, and packaging/testing—full control of the entire chain. He said, “Optical chips are driven by both design and process; only IDM can achieve a closed-loop of technology and controllable yield.”

Zhang Xinggang devoted all his energy to the lab, leading the team to repeatedly refine processes and overcome technical challenges. After ten years of relentless effort, he finally succeeded.

From 2013 to 2016, Yuanjie Technology gradually launched 2.5G/10G DFB laser chips, achieving small-batch shipments.

The real turning point came in 2018, when Yuanjie’s 25G DFB laser chips passed customer validation, becoming the first domestic company to break through this technology, successfully entering the 5G construction track. This marked China’s optical chip companies’ first entry into the arena dominated by international giants.

Achieving this breakthrough, Zhang gained major clients like Huawei and ZTE.

In 2019, Yuanjie launched 25G DFB CWDM/LWDM products for 5G and data centers, completing industrialization and pilot production.

In 2020, Yuanjie became the leading domestic supplier of indium phosphide optical chips, with shipments of 10G and 25G chips topping industry rankings. It is reported that Zhongji Xuchuang, Nokia, and even the three major telecom operators are clients.

In December 2022, Zhang led Yuanjie to list on the STAR Market of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, entering a fast-growth phase.

Using Computing Power to Boost the Second-Highest Priced Stock in A-shares

Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Xinggang led Yuanjie to align with the times, creating an astonishing legend.

After going public, Yuanjie experienced a brief downturn due to fluctuations in the telecom market demand. In 2024, the company’s net profit attributable to shareholders was a loss of 6.13 million yuan.

Even in the downturn, Zhang did not cut R&D investment. In 2024, Yuanjie’s R&D spending reached 55 million yuan, a 76.17% increase.

He keenly anticipated the arrival of the AI era, and in 2024, proactively shifted strategic focus to high-speed optical chips for data centers.

In 2025, as the AI wave accelerated, demand for computing power surged. High-end optical modules, especially high-end optical modules, saw explosive sales, and the performance and stock prices of “Yizhongtian” (Xinyi Sheng, Zhongji Xuchuang, Tianfu Communication) soared, attracting widespread attention.

Zhang became a key player in this AI computing power wave, providing high-end optical chips for leaders like Zhongji Xuchuang. As Zhongji Xuchuang’s performance surged, Yuanjie’s business also experienced explosive growth.

According to performance reports, in 2025, Yuanjie achieved revenue of 601 million yuan, up 138.50% year-over-year; net profit attributable to shareholders reached 191 million yuan, a roughly 32-fold increase compared to the previous year.

Yuanjie explained that the growth in optical chip demand, resource optimization, and improved resource allocation efficiency contributed to the significant increase in revenue and profit. Sales of CW light source products in data centers grew substantially, and data center products had higher gross margins than telecom markets, further boosting overall performance.

In the secondary market, Yuanjie’s performance was particularly impressive.

In April 2025, the stock price briefly dipped to 88.10 yuan per share. By March 20, 2026, the stock hit a daily limit, reaching 1,140 yuan per share, closing at a 17.37% increase for the day, with a closing price of 1,114.99 yuan. During this period, the stock price increased 11.66 times.

With a share price exceeding 1,100 yuan, Yuanjie became the eighth stock in the A-share market to reach the thousand-yuan mark, surpassing Cambrian and becoming the second-highest priced stock after “Stock King” Kweichow Moutai.

During this period, the market value skyrocketed from 7.5 billion to 958 billion yuan.

Zhang Xinggang directly and indirectly owns 12.38% of Yuanjie, with a wealth of 11.864 billion yuan.

He is pushing Yuanjie to list in Hong Kong to build an international capital operation platform, enhance overseas financing, and promote the company’s global expansion.

In addition to planning for a Hong Kong listing, Zhang is actively promoting Yuanjie’s expansion. For example, Yuanjie plans to invest about 1.251 billion yuan in Shaanxi Xianyang Fengxi New City to build a second-phase R&D and manufacturing base for optoelectronic communication semiconductor chips and devices, aiming to improve the stability and responsiveness of high-end optical chip delivery; it also plans to use an over-raising of 98.62 million yuan to increase investment in the “50G Optical Chip Industrialization Construction Project,” mainly to meet capacity growth needs.

Ten years of perseverance in the lab has created a domestic optical chip legend. Zhang Xinggang has seized the AI era’s opportunity through technological breakthroughs. But will the “thousand-yuan new star” Yuanjie become the new king of AI computing power, or just another fleeting player? With only 600 million yuan in revenue, questions about overvaluation and global competition remain. Zhang’s path to breakthrough still has a long way to go.