By Scott Murdoch
(Reuters) -China Vanke Chairman Xin Jie resigned on the weekend, the state-backed property developer said on Monday, sending its shares lower in early trading.
Director and audit committee member Huang Liping will take over as the developer’s chairman, Vanke said in a Hong Kong Stock Exchange announcement.
Huang has been a director since June 2021 and also holds the position of general manager of Shenzhen Metro.
Vanke’s Hong Kong-listed shares dropped by up to 6.3% in early trading on Monday before recovering some ground. The stock was last down 2.9%, as of 0232 GMT, while the Hang Seng Index fell by 1.9%.
Vanke’s Shenzhen-listed stock fell 4.1% before recouping some of the losses to trade down 2.1%.
The developer said Xin confirmed in his resignation that “he has no disagreements with the board, and there are no other matters needs to be brought to the attention of the company’s shareholders.”
Vanke said Xin did not own any shares in the company.
Xin’s resignation comes in less than a year after he was appointed as the chairman of the embattled firm in January. Prior to this role, he was the chairman of its major state-owned shareholder Shenzhen Metro.
His election at the time signalled increased state oversight on expectations that the government would step in to contain non-repayment risks as the developer faced several debt maturity deadlines in the year.
One of the best-known household names in China with many projects across bigger cities, Vanke is currently around a third owned by Shenzhen Metro.
Vanke, which continues to be a part of China’s troubled property sector, reported a half-year loss of 12 billion yuan in August.
(Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney. Additional reporting Donny Kwok in Hong Kong and Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Subhranshu Sahu)
