Industry Transformation Still in Critical Stage; Multiple Small and Mid-Sized Trust Companies Listing Partial Equity Transfers

Securities Times Reporter Liu Yiwen

Recent information released by the Beijing Equity Exchange shows that a 0.826% stake in China Railway Trust is being publicly listed for transfer, with a transfer base price of 90.5016 million yuan. The transferor is Pangang Group Chengdu Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Chenggang Company”). Chenggang Company is the tenth largest shareholder of China Railway Trust, holding a 0.826% stake.

It is understood that this is not the first time this stake has been listed for transfer. On November 23 of last year, 0.826% of China Railway Trust was listed for transfer with a base price of 100.55724 million yuan. The transferor was Chenggang Company, and the disclosure period ended on December 19, 2025. Compared to now, the current listing price has decreased from last year.

The reason for the transfer of this stake is not yet clear.

Public information shows that Chenggang Company was established in May 2002, with Zhang Hu as the legal representative and a registered capital of 1.61 billion yuan. Its business scope includes sales of metal products; sales of non-metallic minerals and products; metal product repair, etc. The company is owned by Pangang Group Chengdu Panzhihua Steel Co., Ltd. (83.23%) and Chengdu Industrial Investment Group Co., Ltd. (16.77%).

China Railway Trust, established in December 2002, is a non-bank financial institution approved by the former China Banking Regulatory Commission, mainly engaged in financial trust business, with a registered capital of 5 billion yuan. China Railway Co., Ltd. is the major shareholder, holding 78.91%.

In addition to China Railway Trust, some small and medium-sized trust companies’ equity has recently been listed for transfer. Recently, after the previous listing expired without suitable buyers, the transfer of 6 billion shares of New Era Trust was again listed on the Beijing Equity Exchange, with a disclosure period from February 13 to March 18, 2026. It is reported that this is the fourth time the company’s equity has been listed for transfer. The transfer base price is set at 1.481 billion yuan, which is 80% of the previous listing price, only 64% of the initial listing price more than three years ago.

New Era Trust was established in February 2004, with a registered capital of 6 billion yuan, and is located in Baotou City, Inner Mongolia. The transferors are New Era Yuanjing (Beijing) Investment Co., Ltd., Shanghai Ren Guang Industrial Development Co., Ltd., Weifang Kewei Investment Co., Ltd., and Baotou Xinding Sheng Trading Co., Ltd. The shareholding structure of New Era Trust shows that these four companies hold 58.54%, 24.39%, 14.63%, and 2.44%, respectively.

Industry insiders believe that the trust industry is currently in a critical stage of business transformation. Most trust companies are under significant performance pressure, and industry risks continue to be exposed, leading to a decline in the overall valuation of trust company equity. This has a notable impact on the value of equity held by small and medium shareholders in trust companies.