Jinzi Ham Zheng Qingsheng, hastily promoted his son to a high position

Zebra Consumer Chen Xiaojing

Half a year after Putian tycoon Zheng Qingsheng took control of Jinhua Ham, he finally installed his son Zheng Hu as the president, who will be fully responsible for the company's operations and management.

Prior to this, Zheng Hu had served as the company's vice president for five months and had also been a director of Shanghai Aston Martin Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. for many years.

From the perspective of corporate succession, Zheng Hu has not had much time or experience in key positions. It remains to be seen whether the post-90s executive is ready for such a rapid promotion to a high-ranking position.

Installing His Son

Perhaps when he officially took control of Jinhua Ham (002515.SZ) in June this year, Putian tycoon Zheng Qingsheng had already begun planning the company's personnel and governance structure to pave the way for his son Zheng Hu to eventually take the helm of the listed company.

Now, this "arrangement" is being implemented step by step.

On December 16, the company announced that Guo Bo had resigned as president, and Zheng Hu, the son of Zheng Qingsheng, would take over.

In July this year, the company's board of directors underwent a reshuffle, and Guo Bo took over as president from her predecessor Zhou Guohua. However, she did not stay in the position for long before stepping down. Guo Bo will continue to serve as vice chairman and a member of the board's strategic committee.

From her resume, most of her experience has been concentrated in investment banking and private equity. Since 2021, she has served as chairman and general manager of Qinghe Private Equity Fund (Zhuhai).

According to public reports, Guo Bo led Qinghe Private Equity to make precise investments in the semiconductor and high-tech industries, including Wuxi Haigude New Materials and Suzhou Tongli Optoelectronics.

For Zheng Qingsheng, Guo Bo's expertise in semiconductor investments is valuable as the company has already initiated a cross-border chip strategy and needs her support in this area.

Zheng Hu has been a director of Shanghai Aston Martin Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. since 2018 and was appointed vice president of Jinhua Ham in July this year. There is no public information indicating that he has any experience in the food or semiconductor industries.

From a conventional corporate management perspective, the selection of a president usually requires long-term experience, careful screening, and multi-faceted evaluation. Zheng Hu's promotion to president after just five months in the company is unusually fast, and it remains to be seen whether the 34-year-old is capable of handling the comprehensive operational and management responsibilities.

The secondary market does not seem to be very convinced. Yesterday, the company's stock closed at 6.22 yuan, down 4.16%, with a total market capitalization of 7.53 billion yuan.

Focusing on Chips

In June 2025, Zheng Qingsheng spent 870 million yuan to acquire an 11.98% stake in Jinhua Ham from its former controlling shareholder, Ren Guilong, and obtained 18.83% of the voting rights through a voting rights entrustment agreement, becoming the de facto controller of the company.

Jinhua Ham is known for its traditional ham products and is the "first ham stock." However, Zheng Qingsheng was not particularly interested in this main business due to the disadvantages of cured foods. After taking control, he began leading the company's cross-border expansion into the semiconductor industry.

In July this year, the company registered Jinhua Chip (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd. and Fujian Jinhua Semiconductor Co., Ltd. in Shanghai and Fujian Xianyou, respectively, with Zheng Hu serving as the legal representative for both. The business scope of both companies is related to integrated circuits, chip manufacturing, and sales.

Two months later, Jinhua Ham disclosed that Fujian Jinhua Semiconductor planned to acquire no more than 20% of the shares of Zhongsheng Microelectronics (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd. through a capital increase of no more than 300 million yuan, thereby entering the AI and optical communication industries.

The core team of Zhongsheng Micro (Hangzhou) comes from a U.S. optical communication design company. Since returning to China to start a business in 2019, the company has focused on high-speed optical module core electrical chips. Its products are mainly used in AI computing power and cloud computing, with a notable focus on promoting the localization of electrical chips for high-speed modules above 100G.

Perhaps due to the scarcity of its products and solid technological advantages, Zhongsheng Micro has received investments from institutions such as Yuanhe Holdings and is one of Zhejiang's TOP 50 most investable innovative companies.

Currently, Zhongsheng Micro (Hangzhou)'s related business and products are still in the R&D phase and have not yet been monetized. In 2024, its revenue was 204,900 yuan, with a net loss of about 39 million yuan. In the first seven months of this year, its revenue was 511,100 yuan, with a net loss of 20.3742 million yuan.

However, this has not deterred Jinhua Ham's determination to enter the chip industry.

In October this year, the company planned to invest 100 million yuan to subscribe to 297,353 yuan of newly added registered capital in Zhongsheng Micro (Hangzhou), obtaining a 9.0909% stake, which has been approved by the board of directors.

Cross-Border Genes

This is not the first time Jinhua Ham has ventured into cross-border businesses. Both during Shi Yanjun's tenure and Ren Guilong's four-year control, the company attempted to cultivate new growth curves beyond its main ham business.

Shi Yanjun began leading the company's transformation in 2012, venturing into rare earths, coal mines, internet finance, new energy vehicle leasing and operations, and healthcare, with little success. The company even became entangled in a years-long repurchase dispute with Zhongyu Capital due to a performance bet. In the end, Shi Yanjun had to pay out of his own pocket to settle the remaining debt from Zhongyu Capital's share repurchase, ending the dispute.

After well-known retail investor Ren Guilong took control in 2021, he also led the company's transformation. In 2022, the company entered the prepared food sector and later ventured into computing power, attracting widespread attention.

At the end of 2023, the company invested 401 million yuan to acquire a 12.2807% stake in Yindun Cloud, entering the AI technology services and cloud computing platform sectors, but transferred its stake in Yindun Cloud just one year later.

The new de facto controller, Zheng Qingsheng, also has a rich history of cross-border ventures.

In the 1980s, he made his first fortune by opening a sugar factory in his hometown of Xianyou, later entering real estate, education, and luxury car dealerships.

Zheng Qingsheng's real breakthrough came in real estate. In 1999, he founded Fujian Tinghu Real Estate, specializing in real estate investments, and was repeatedly among Xianyou County's top taxpayers. In 2010, he entered the luxury car sales industry, representing the British luxury brand Aston Martin.

The luxury car dealership business nurtured his eldest son, Zheng Ting. Born in 1986, Zheng Ting is the legal representative and chairman of Shanghai Aston Martin Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. and vice chairman of Fujian Tinghu Real Estate. He is well-known in the supercar circle as "Prince Ting."

After decades of entrepreneurship, Zheng Qingsheng's business empire spans education, real estate, automobiles, food, and other sectors. At the age of 69, he took control of the listed company Jinhua Ham.

The head of this vast business empire is low-key and mysterious, rarely appearing in public, and it is difficult to find recent photos of him online.