Did the "second-generation Fujian businessman's" 1.6 billion create the "capital virtuoso" of "Yunnan vaccine tycoon"?

Ask AI · Li Yunchun’s Capital Operation Mastermind: How Will It Influence the Company’s Future?

End of the No Controlling Shareholder Era,

Can Watson Biotech Achieve the 20 Billion Revenue Dream?

Author | Yao Yue

Editor | Yu Xing

Source | Ye Ma Finance

Recently, an announcement of a private placement officially ended Watson Biotech’s (300142.SZ) 16-year “ownerless” period. The new investor is not from the pharmaceutical industry but is Huang Tao, the second-generation entrepreneur of “Minshang,” and head of Century Golden Source Group, who crossed into the industry with 1.6 billion yuan in funds.

Meanwhile, Founder Li Yunchun did not exit; instead, he invested 240 million yuan to deepen his stake and bind himself closely with the “new owner.” Previously, Li Yunchun had reduced his holdings in Watson Biotech over the years, cashing out about 4 billion yuan. Yuan Shuai, co-founder of New Wisdom New Quality Productivity Salon, believes that Li Yunchun’s strategy of high-level profit-taking first, then introducing external capital at minimal cost to strengthen influence, is a classic case of capital operation.

Watson Biotech once set a target of 20 billion yuan in revenue by 2025, but now only one-eighth of that has been achieved. With the arrival of the new owner, can this veteran pharmaceutical company facing governance issues and performance pressure find a real turning point?

As of the close on March 23, Watson Biotech’s stock price fell 6.47%, to 11.7 yuan per share, with a total market value of 18.7 billion yuan.

01
Century Golden Source’s Second-Generation Entrepreneur Takes Over,

Watson Biotech Ends the No Controlling Shareholder Era

On March 18, Watson Biotech announced that Beijing Tengyun Xin Wo Biotechnology Partnership (Limited Partnership) (referred to as Tengyun Xin Wo) signed a subscription agreement with the company. The company plans to issue no more than 208 million A-shares to specific investors at 9.63 yuan per share, raising a total of 2.003 billion yuan, all for working capital. After the private placement, Tengyun Xin Wo will directly hold 11.51% of Watson Biotech.

Tengyun Xin Wo was established in February 2026, controlled by Tengyun Health Management Co., Ltd. (Tengyun Health), which owns 79.99%, and Century Golden Source Group, which owns 100% of Tengyun Health. Century Golden Source was founded in 1991 by well-known Fujian businessman Huang Rulun. It gained fame early in China’s real estate history with “city-building models” such as Beijing Century City and Kunming Century City. According to its official website, Century Golden Source is a comprehensive international enterprise group with investments in real estate, hotels, tourism, commercial operations, healthcare, smart travel, and other sectors, totaling 400 billion yuan in China by 2025, and also investing in children, education, finance, AI technology, new energy, and mining.

In January 2018, Huang Rulun was involved in a bribery scandal and transferred 60% of the group’s equity to his eldest son, Huang Tao. The 2026 Hurun Global Rich List shows that Huang Rulun and Huang Tao’s family wealth reaches 35.5 billion yuan, ranking 871st globally.

With Huang Tao taking the helm, Century Golden Source has begun shifting from traditional real estate to capital operations.

Since 2018, Huang Tao has used Tibet Jingyuan to invest in Anhui Tongtong Technology (002331.SZ), gaining control of its first A-share company in 2022. By November 2025, he plans to further consolidate control through private placements. In June 2025, Huang Tao quickly took control of “the first children’s clothing stock” Annor (002875.SZ) via a new entity, Shenzhen Xinchuangyuan.

He also holds significant stakes in several listed companies across different fields, including Explorer (300005.SZ), Xinming Life Technology (0474.HK), First Service Holdings (2107.HK), China Financial International (0721.HK), and has long-term holdings in CITIC Securities (601066.SH / 6066.HK) through Tibet Tengyun. Century Golden Source previously attempted to spin off property assets for listing but failed, later injecting some property rights into First Service Holdings via share swap.

Currently, Huang Tao is focusing on the health sector. Tengyun Health, which holds nearly 80% of Tengyun Xin Wo, operates three major service platforms: Tengyun Family Medical, Tengyun Specialty, and Tengyun Elderly Care.

02

Watson Biotech Founder Li Yunchun Has Not Left

While the market focuses on “Century Golden Source’s entry,” an important detail is often overlooked—Li Yunchun, co-founder and current chairman of Watson Biotech, has not exited the company.

Behind Tengyun Xin Wo are the “Century Golden Source” entities: Tengyun Health (LP) and Tengyun Biotech (GP), holding 79.99% and 0.01%, respectively; along with Xiaoxi Zhengxinli (LP) with 12%, and Xixing Management (LP) with 8%.

Xiaoxi Zhengxinli is controlled by Li Yunchun, who holds 99%, making him the actual controller; Xixing Management is backed by Xisheng Assets, which, according to Economic Observer, has a long-term cooperative relationship with Watson Biotech.

Therefore, the 2.003 billion yuan private placement involves about 1.6 billion yuan from Huang Tao’s Century Golden Source, about 240 million yuan from Li Yunchun, and about 160 million yuan from Xisheng Assets.

Li Yunchun and the “new owner” Huang Tao have also formed a binding relationship.

According to Watson Biotech’s announcement, shareholder Li Yunchun, along with controlled entities Chengdu Xiyun Enterprise Management Partnership and Guangzhou Yingwo Enterprise Management Partnership, have signed a “unanimous action agreement” with Tengyun Xin Wo’s shareholders, agreeing to act in concert on major decisions related to company operations and governance.

However, if there are disagreements on voting rights or their exercise, the final decision will be based on the opinions of Huang Tao, Tengyun Biotech, and Tengyun Health.

Post-issuance, Tengyun Xin Wo and its concerted parties will hold 14.46% of Watson Biotech’s total shares, with the remaining shareholders holding more dispersed voting rights.

Simultaneously, the company will re-elect the board of directors, setting up nine directors, including three independent directors. Tengyun Xin Wo will nominate four non-independent directors and two independent directors, constituting a majority.

The “Joint Investment and Unanimous Action Agreement” states that “particularly for Li Yunchun, he shall, according to law, make reasonable efforts to ensure that Watson Biotech’s original directors vote in favor of the proposals to appoint directors nominated by the partnership.”

According to Economic Observer, a securities sponsor believes that Century Golden Source’s ability to negotiate the transfer of control over Watson Biotech depends critically on Li Yunchun’s attitude and subsequent operational capacity. Respecting Li Yunchun and his team’s contributions is fundamental to the company’s future development.

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Evidence shows that Li Yunchun has historically maintained influence over Watson Biotech.

Watson Biotech was formerly Yunnan Watson Biotechnology, founded in 2001 by founder Li Yunchun’s Runsheng Pharmaceutical, founder Chen Erjia’s Borwat Biotech, and Yunnan Mengsheng Pharmaceutical. Chen Erjia exited the board in 2016 and fully divested in 2023. Li Yunchun has served as chairman since 2009.

According to “Market Cap Fengyun” in 2019, despite Yunnan Industrial Investment’s (Yunnan Gongtou) investment during Watson Biotech’s 2016 crisis and its brief position as the largest shareholder, it did not shake Li Yunchun’s chairman status, and the company’s management remained under his control.

At that time, Li Yunchun also increased his stake through asset management plans. In December 2018, Yunnan Gongtou transferred 5% of its shares to “Wuxi Zhongbao Jiwa,” whose actual controller was Li Yunchun (then holding 66.64%).

However, paradoxically, Li Yunchun reduced his holdings multiple times from 2017 to 2022.

Wind data shows that from 2017 to 2022, Li Yunchun cashed out about 4 billion yuan through reductions. Notably, on January 12-13, 2022, he sold a total of 544 million yuan via block trades. His direct stake has now decreased to 1.7%.

In 2017, Watson Biotech’s stock was around 10 yuan, then surged, peaking over 80 yuan in 2021. As of March 20, the stock closed at 12.51 yuan.

Yuan Shuai, co-founder of New Wisdom New Quality Productivity Salon, states that Li Yunchun’s “initial reduction and subsequent re-entry” forms a complete capital operation cycle: he cashed out about 4 billion yuan to secure personal wealth; then, investing about 240 million yuan to participate in the controlling platform Tengyun Xin Wo, effectively “returning” as a new controlling partner. This strategy achieves three goals: 1) secure personal assets, avoiding industry volatility; 2) amplify governance leverage, using a smaller stake to gain stronger influence; 3) bring in financier Huang Tao, ending Watson Biotech’s long-term governance dilemma of no actual controller.

“This operation breaks the traditional dilemma for founders—either ‘cling to control’ or ‘completely exit.’ Li Yunchun appears to relinquish control on the surface but, through share swaps and agreements, deeply binds his personal interests with strategic investors, achieving asset safety and future influence—an ‘advance by retreat’ classic capital operation.” Yuan Shuai comments.

However, Yuan also notes that Li Yunchun’s ‘high-level reduction and low-level private placement’ process has created a phase mismatch between personal asset preservation and secondary market risks, potentially raising questions about corporate governance fairness. The low-price private placement dilutes existing shareholders’ equity proportion, possibly affecting the value and influence of small and medium investors. While compliant, such operations may cause some investors to question whether management and minority shareholders truly share risks.

It is also worth noting that under Li Yunchun’s leadership, Watson Biotech engaged in high-priced acquisitions post-IPO, later selling some assets at low prices for various reasons, which drew external criticism. In 2020, Watson Biotech attempted to transfer its subsidiary Shanghai Runze, which was strongly questioned as a “fire sale.” After investor doubts and regulatory inquiries, the sale was halted. During this period, Li Yunchun once responded to angry investors with a “you can question our ability but not our integrity” remark that trended on social media.

03

Can Watson Biotech Achieve the 20 Billion Revenue Target?

Watson Biotech is a leading enterprise in Yunnan and China’s vaccine industry, mainly engaged in R&D, production, and sales of human vaccines and biotechnological drugs. By the end of 2024, Watson Biotech had eight self-developed vaccines officially on the market, including pneumonia and HPV vaccines as core products.

The company’s highlight was the launch of the 13-valent pneumonia vaccine in 2020, making Watson Biotech the first in China and the second globally to develop this vaccine independently. It quickly became a pillar of the company’s performance, with sales of 1.658 billion yuan in 2020, accounting for 56.41% of total revenue. In 2022, Watson Biotech successfully launched a bivalent HPV vaccine, becoming the second in China and the fourth globally to list an HPV vaccine.

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However, from 2023 to 2024, total revenue declined from a high of 5.086 billion yuan to 4.114 billion and 2.821 billion yuan. Net profit attributable to shareholders plummeted over 80%, from 729 million to 142 million yuan.

Watson Biotech’s 2025 performance forecast shows total revenue between 2.4 billion and 2.43 billion yuan, down about 14% year-on-year. Back in 2020, then Vice Chairman Huang Zhen set a goal of 20 billion yuan in revenue and becoming the fifth-largest vaccine company in the world by 2025—now only one-eighth of that has been achieved.

More concerning is profit quality. Net profit after non-recurring gains and losses is expected to be between 85 million and 99 million yuan, down 9%-22% year-on-year.

As a once-star product, Watson Biotech’s bivalent HPV vaccine sales have been severely squeezed by fierce price wars. Meanwhile, the expanding age range for imported 9-valent HPV vaccines has diverted many self-paid consumers, putting pressure on sales of Watson’s bivalent HPV vaccine.

The 13-valent pneumonia conjugate vaccine, which broke monopolies, faces increasing domestic competition and declining birth rates. Although Watson Biotech still holds the largest domestic market share, the overall market size is shrinking, and more competitors are sharing the pie, leading to declines in approval volumes and sales revenue.

Watson Biotech invested heavily in multiple COVID-19 vaccine pipelines, but most projects were eventually terminated without commercial returns. These sunk costs have also drained resources.

Vice Chairman Bai Wenxi of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance states that Huang Tao’s entry ends the 16-year dispersed ownership, resolves long-standing governance conflicts, and the capital raised will ease R&D and cash flow pressures. Clear control also helps stabilize market expectations, with the stock price rebounding after resumption, indicating initial approval.

“However, the core product dilemma remains unresolved—besides the price war on the 2-valent HPV vaccine, the 13-valent pneumonia vaccine faces dual pressures from increasing competitors and declining birth rates; the 9-valent HPV vaccine development lags behind, with competitors like Wantai already launched similar products; more critically, whether the new owner with a real estate background can truly empower vaccine R&D remains to be seen,” Bai Wenxi comments.

Will Huang Tao’s 1.6 billion yuan from crossing over from real estate help Watson Biotech reach new heights? Comments and opinions are welcome.

Author’s note: Personal views are for reference only.