AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)09/23 Report--

According to relevant media reports, both Wulong Electric vehicles and Wulong Power, in which Li Ka-shing once invested, have announced that Cao Zhong, their chairman and executive director, has been petitioned for bankruptcy by Li Ka-shing's Li Ka Shing (Canada) Foundation (Li Ka-shing (Canada) Foundation).

According to public information, Cao Zhong, chairman and executive director of the company, confirmed that the Li Ka Shing Foundation has filed a bankruptcy petition against Cao Zhong. As the bankruptcy petition is still in its infancy, the company has not yet obtained enough information about the bankruptcy petition through Cao Zhong to analyze its impact on the group.

The Li Ka Shing Foundation said that because Cao Zhong was unable to repay the principal and interest of the guarantee money, the total arrears as of July this year exceeded 1.119 billion yuan, so he filed for bankruptcy in court.

It is understood that the Li Ka-shing Foundation is mainly focused on supporting education and medical projects; the foundation has received more than 25 billion yuan in donations from Li Ka-shing, with projects in 27 countries and regions around the world, about 80% of which are in Greater China. The foundation is for the public good.

For the payment due to the investment in the above-mentioned bonds is in arrears for a long time and is invalid after many negotiations, it can only be recovered from the bond guarantor and resorted to legal action.

Data show that Li Ka-shing began to invest in Wulong electric vehicles in 2010 and continued to spend about 340 million yuan to increase his ownership of Wulong electric vehicles in 2015, with a total shareholding ratio of 7.96%. In the "blessing" of Li Ka-shing, Wulong Electric vehicles reorganized Hangzhou Changjiang Automobile in 2013, invested in the establishment of Guizhou Yangtze River production base around 2016, and built factories and investments in many places to bet on the electric vehicle industry.

But in today's tight environment, the industry downward, Guizhou Yangtze River, Hangzhou Yangtze River, Chengdu Yangtze River and other Wulong electric vehicle companies have been reported arrears of wages, stop production. As a result, Wulong's business has continued to lose money in recent years, narrowing to 1.989 billion yuan in the year to the end of March this year, compared with a loss of 2.23 billion yuan in the same period last year, while the company has only 164 million yuan in cash on hand. The Li Ka-shing Foundation has also begun to reduce its holdings several times, falling to 4.93% by 2016.

According to the official website of Wulong Electric vehicle, Wulong Electric vehicle is an international company specializing in the research, development, manufacture and sales of new energy electric vehicles and their core components. In December 2013, the company completed the first round of trial production of pure electric luxury bus and light and medium-sized commercial vehicles, and planned to enter small batch production in the fourth quarter of this year, while pure electric small SUV planned to be put into mass production in June 2015.

In fact, last year, Zhongwulong electric car repeatedly disclosed that Cao Zhong's shareholding was cut off by brokerage firms because of the company's falling share price and liquidity problems, and Cao Zhong's shareholding dropped from 11.86% to 9.79%. Until July this year, Cao Zhong resigned as CEO of Wulong Electric vehicle, but remained as executive director and chairman. Cao Zhong owns about 6% of Wulong electric car, according to the company's annual report.

According to Wulong Electric vehicle's 2018 results, the company has lost HK $3.007 billion. The Wulong electric car was once popular because it was favored by Li Ka-shing, but now Li Ka-shing is no longer in the top 10 shareholders, with a shareholding of less than 0.04%.

The worries hidden in the fast-growing days finally broke out when the industry was in the doldrums. Players who did not expect the good days to end so soon will be the first to feel the chill. It is no accident that Wulong electric cars are facing difficulties. In 2019, the knockout stage of the auto industry has accelerated.

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