(Yicai) July 1 -- Shenzhen Metro Group, the largest shareholder of embattled property developer China Vanke, has promoted former General Manager Huang Liping to the position of chairman, filling the post after a two-month vacancy. Company veteran Huang has also served as Vanke chairman since the second half of last year.

Shenzhen Metro announced the leadership change last night, naming 58-year-old Huang as chairman while simultaneously relieving him of his duties as general manager. His predecessor, Xin Jie, resigned as chairman of Shenzhen Metro in April this year and stepped down as the head of Shenzhen-based Vanke in October last year.

Huang has worked at Shenzhen Metro for more than two decades and has participated in the construction of several metro lines in the hi-tech hub. He was appointed deputy general manager of Shenzhen Metro in 2014, before moving to Shenzhen Public Housing Group in 2018 where he served as general manager and oversaw the construction and operation of affordable housing projects in this first-tier southern city. He returned to Shenzhen Metro in 2021 to take up the position of general manager.

When Huang rejoined Shenzhen Metro, he also became a member of Vanke’s board of directors, participating in the developer’s major strategic decisions. In October last year, Xin resigned as Vanke’s chairman for personal reasons after serving just nine months in the role, and Huang was elected to succeed him.

Shenzhen Metro became Vanke’s largest shareholder in 2017 after acquiring a 29 percent stake for CNY66 billion (USD9.7 billion) from China Resources and China Evergrande. The purchase ended a two-year battle for control of Vanke between founder Wang Shi and investment firm Baoneng Group. Wang stepped down from Vanke's management later that year.

Due to the prolonged downtown in China's property market, Vanke has been in a liquidity crunch for the past two years, accompanied by frequent management changes. In January last year, the then-Chairman Yu Liang and several senior executives resigned. Shenzhen Metro, as the largest shareholder, assumed control of the developer and has repeatedly extended shareholder loans to ease Vanke’s liquidity constraints and debt repayment pressure.

At his first shareholders’ meeting as Vanke chairman in November last year, Huang pledged that Shenzhen Metro would help the developer resolve its financial risks in an orderly manner, overcome its difficulties and return to a path of healthy growth.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor