1.83 Billion "Swallows" Chifeng Gold, Is Zijin Mining Addicted to Buying A-Shares?

On March 23, Chifeng Gold announced that Zijin Mining would acquire control of the company for a total price of 18.258 billion yuan. This acquisition directly set a new record in the history of mergers and acquisitions in China’s A-share gold industry.

According to the announcement, the transaction will be completed through an agreement transfer of A-shares plus a private placement of H-shares. If successfully executed, Zijin Mining will ultimately hold 28.85% of the shares, becoming the single largest shareholder of Chifeng Gold and achieving consolidated financial statements. Meanwhile, the founder’s widow, Li Jinyang, and her concerted parties will fully exit.

From continuous overseas gold mine acquisitions, to the spin-off of Zijin International listed in Hong Kong, and ongoing expansion of the A-share footprint, Zijin Mining has woven a resource-centered capital network across primary and secondary markets.

Zijin Mining Acquires Chifeng Gold for 18.3 Billion Yuan

On March 23, after being suspended for four trading days, Chifeng Gold issued an announcement that global mining giant Zijin Mining would acquire control of Chifeng Gold through its wholly owned subsidiary Zijin Gold, paying a total of 18.258 billion yuan. The founder’s widow, Li Jinyang, will fully exit, setting a new record in 2023 after Shandong Gold’s 12.76 billion yuan acquisition of Yintai Gold, becoming the largest M&A in the history of China’s A-share gold industry.

According to the announcement, Zijin Gold and the actual controller Li Jinyang, along with her concerted party Zhejiang Hanfeng, signed a share transfer agreement to acquire 242 million A-shares of Chifeng Gold at 41.36 yuan per share, totaling 10.006 billion yuan. On the same day, they also signed a strategic investment agreement, with Zijin Gold subscribing to 311 million H-shares of Chifeng Gold at 30.19 HKD per share, equivalent to 8.252 billion yuan.

After these two transactions, Zijin Gold will hold a total of 572 million shares of Chifeng Gold, accounting for 25.85% of the enlarged total share capital, becoming the company’s single largest shareholder and consolidating its financials. The controlling shareholder of Chifeng Gold will change to Zijin Gold, while Li Jinyang and her concerted parties will fully exit, holding no shares anymore.

Li Jinyang’s decision to exit at this time was actually foreseeable. After the death of Chifeng Gold’s founder Zhao Meiguang in 2021, Li Jinyang, as his widow, inherited all shares, holding a direct and indirect stake of 17.63%, becoming the largest shareholder. That same month, she reduced her holdings by over 18.09 million shares via block trade, lowering her stake to 16.54%. Based on the closing price that day (December 31), she cashed out approximately 270 million yuan.

In March 2022, Li Jinyang signed an agreement with Huaneng Trust to transfer 96 million shares at 16.79 yuan per share. However, according to regulations, shares inherited cannot be transferred within 18 months of registration, preventing the completion of the transfer within the agreed timeframe. The transaction was ultimately terminated in November 2022.

On the same day the deal was terminated, Chifeng Gold disclosed that Li Jinyang had pledged her 78.98% stake to Huaneng Trust, with the pledged funds supporting the company’s development.

In January 2024, Li Jinyang and Huaneng Trust解除了质押关系. Over the following years, she continued to pledge new shares to institutions like Tibet Trust and GF Securities, but overall pledge ratios decreased compared to 2023.

Over the past year, driven by record-high gold prices, Chifeng Gold’s stock price reached historic highs. Li Jinyang’s exit at this point effectively maximized her personal asset value.

The Charm of Chifeng Gold

Since 2020, after clarifying the “primarily gold” strategy in its annual report, Chifeng Gold has gradually divested non-core assets. Its controlling subsidiary XML Enterprise Holdings began prioritizing gold resource development at the Sepon mine in Laos. The same year, the company also completed the sale of 100% equity in Xiongfeng Environmental Protection.

Today, Chifeng Gold ranks among China’s largest private gold producers, with annual gold output rising from 8.1 tons in 2021 to 14.51 tons in 2025, a CAGR of nearly 26%. Revenue grew from 3.783 billion yuan in 2021 to 12.639 billion yuan in 2025.

As a leading mining company, Zijin Mining has continued to increase its gold business investments. In October-November 2024, the company acquired the Akyem gold mine in Ghana from Newmont and 100% of the La Arena project in Peru from Pan American Silver, with investments of 1 billion USD and 3 billion USD respectively, enhancing its African and South American gold footprint.

In 2025, Zijin Mining further acquired 100% of RG Gold from Cantech for 1.2 billion USD, expanding into Central Asia. Early 2026, the company spent about 5.5 billion CAD to acquire United Gold, gaining the Sadiola gold mine in Mali, the Côte d’Ivoire gold complex, and the Kurmuk gold mine in Ethiopia.

Beyond overseas acquisitions, Zijin Mining also consolidated all its overseas gold mines into Zijin Gold International in 2025, pushing for an independent listing in Hong Kong. From the initial disclosure of the spin-off plan on April 30 to the listing on September 30, Zijin Gold International took only five months. The HKD 28.7 billion fundraising set a record for the largest IPO in global gold mining, and was the second-largest IPO worldwide in 2025, attracting top institutions like GIC, Hillhouse, and BlackRock.

Zijin Mining’s heavy investment in gold has been reflected in its performance. In 2025, the company’s gold mining revenue reached 64.675 billion yuan, an 83.25% increase year-over-year. Public information shows that Chifeng Gold’s mines are mainly located in Laos and West Africa, which are weak points in Zijin Mining’s global gold layout, making this acquisition highly complementary.

More importantly, several key managers of Chifeng Gold have experience working at Zijin Mining. Chairman Wang Jianhua served as Zijin Mining’s president from 2013 to 2016, leading the company through low metal prices and achieving revenue growth from 49.772 billion yuan to 78.851 billion yuan via exploration and overseas M&A.

Additionally, current President Yang Yifang previously served as Zijin Mining’s assistant to the chairman and held key management roles in several Zijin subsidiaries; CFO Huang Xuebin also previously served as deputy head of Zijin Mining’s finance department.

Zijin Mining’s A-share Footprint

If the acquisition of Chifeng Gold proceeds smoothly, Zijin Mining’s A-share listed companies will expand further.

Looking back at Zijin Mining’s A-share layout, it dates back to 2006. At that time, Zijin Mining invested 74.95 million yuan through Zijin Nantou to acquire a 12% stake in Muli Rongda Mining Co., Ltd. (the predecessor of Sichuan Gold), becoming a core shareholder. At that time, Sichuan Gold’s mineral development was still in early stages and attracted little market attention.

In 2023, Sichuan Gold successfully listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, bringing substantial returns to Zijin Nantou. In the first quarter of 2023, Zijin Nantou’s shareholding value reached 992 million yuan, over 13 times the initial investment. Despite subsequent partial reduction, it remained the fourth-largest shareholder. When Sichuan Gold’s stock price surged in January 2026, Zijin Nantou’s holdings increased from around 900 million yuan to 1.5 billion yuan, with a return exceeding 20 times.

In 2016 and 2019, Zijin Mining invested in environmental company Sains through capital increases and share swaps. Sains listed on the STAR Market in 2022, where Zijin Mining became the second-largest shareholder, earning significant returns. Currently, Zijin Mining’s stake in Sains is valued at 1.714 billion yuan, over 8.5 times the initial 198 million yuan investment.

Between 2021 and 2022, amid tightening macro environment and a downward cycle in the mining sector, many companies shrank their operations. Zijin Mining, however, expanded against the trend. In April 2021, its affiliate Zijin Zihai Fund invested in the tire manufacturer Hai’an Group, holding 3.23%. Post-investment, cooperation orders soared from 65 million yuan in 2020 to 213 million yuan in 2022. During Hai’an Group’s 2025 IPO, Zijin Mining participated in strategic placement, subscribing 95 million yuan, and they also signed a six-year cooperation agreement.

Later that year, Zijin Mining invested in cross-border logistics firm Jiayou International via block trades, private placements, and agreements, holding 21.23% to become the second-largest shareholder.

In the announcement of the transfer, Zijin Mining stated that Jiayou International’s business aligns well with its overseas projects. The cooperation was further confirmed in 2023 when they jointly invested in the Dilo Port project in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Jiayou International won a cross-border logistics contract for Zijin Mining’s Hong Kong subsidiary, Jingshan (Hong Kong) International Mining.

In April 2022, Zijin Mining signed an agreement with Dunnan Group and Zhejiang Merchants Bank Hangzhou Branch, acquiring four assets of Dunnan Group for 7.682 billion yuan. The core asset was 100% of Jinshi Mining, which owns 70% of the Lagaer Salt Lake Lithium Mine.

This acquisition also included stakes in Jiangnan Chemical and Dunnan Environmental, holding 9.82% and 9.71% respectively. In November 2022, Zijin Mining further increased its stake in Jiangnan Chemical by 1.614 billion yuan, becoming its second-largest shareholder.

The acquisition of Dunnan Environmental faced complications. The day before Zijin Mining signed the agreement, Gree Electric completed the transfer of 29.48% of Dunnan Environmental’s shares to become the controlling shareholder. Dunnan Holdings had promised Gree not to transfer its shares without approval. Zijin Mining’s agreement with Dunnan did not obtain Gree’s prior consent.

Gree Electric attempted to acquire Zijin Mining’s 9.71% stake but ultimately withdrew after negotiations, and Zijin became the second-largest shareholder of Dunnan Environmental.

In 2024, Zijin Mining, via Zijin Nantou, spent 535 million yuan to acquire a 20% stake in Longgao Co., entering kaolin resources as the second-largest shareholder. Later that year, Zijin Nantou bought an additional 4.37% stake from Longgao Group’s parent company for 398 million yuan, deepening its involvement.

In March 2025, Zijin Mining’s long-time partner China Ruilin launched an A-share IPO, with Zijin participating as a strategic investor. In Q2 and Q3 of that year, Zijin also acquired stakes in ST Yazhen and ST Weier, ranking as the fifth and sixth largest shareholders. The same year, Zijin also took controlling interest in Zangge Mining.

As Zijin Mining continues its expansion, its A-share footprint is expected to grow further.