China Vanke’s Founder, Wang Shi, Steps Down
HONG KONG — China Vanke Co Chairman Wang Shi, one of the best known people in Chinese business, will step down from
the board after a years-long power struggle saw the nation’s No.2 property developer fall under state control.
A shareholder meeting to elect new board members will be held on June 30,
and the company said it had nominated three senior executives of major shareholder Shenzhen Metro, including its chairman, general manager and chief financial officer, as non-executive directors.
The move was widely expected after China Vanke was taken over by the Shenzhen government in March, ending a struggle for boardroom control
and raising questions about to what extent the property giant would remain a market-driven company.
The state-owned subway operator’s control over Vanke was affirmed earlier this month after it raised its stake to
29.38 percent, surpassing financial conglomerate Baoneng Group, which had sought to oust Vanke’s management.
The 66-year-old former government official and People’s Liberation Army veteran said it was time to hand over the reins of the company he founded in 1988
and built into a real estate powerhouse that rode on the back of China’s economic boom.
Wang is an unusually colourful figure in China’s staid boardrooms - an entrepreneur who also rows, climbs mountains
and hit gossip headlines when he began dating a much younger actress.