Shenyang Post-00s Generation, holding 1 billion in stock trading

Ask AI · How the New Generation of Market Makers Are Changing the A-Share Investment Ecosystem

01. 23-Year-Old “Market Maker” Goes Viral

Recently, a post about Wang Zixu, a post-2000 investor, has been trending in the financial circles.

On March 10, Honghe Technology announced that Wang Zixu subscribed to 1.2497 million shares of the company at 40.01 yuan per share, totaling nearly 50 million yuan. On March 13, the stock closed at 70.58 yuan per share. Based on this, the investment’s market value rose to about 88.1 million yuan, with unrealized gains exceeding 38 million yuan, and an impressive return on investment.

Before this investment, Wang Zixu was already a prominent figure in the capital market. In Q3 2021, at just 18 years old, he appeared among the top ten circulating shareholders of Zhongjin Gold, holding 37.59 million shares. At that time, based on the stock price, his holdings were worth approximately 315 million yuan.

In the following years, he shifted his focus to legal auctions and private placements, making bold moves. Starting from April 2025, he participated four times in judicial auctions of Jinlong Shares, spending a total of 305 million yuan to acquire 27.5 million shares. Notably, because Jinlong Shares holds 40% of Dongguan Securities and 100% of Zhongshan Securities, along with high premium margins on auctioned assets, Jinlong Shares has been a hot target in the market.

In the second judicial auction in March 2026, Wang Zixu bid nearly 105 million yuan at the starting price to acquire 10.5 million shares, corresponding to a price of 9.99 yuan per share. On the auction day, Jinlong Shares closed at 12.51 yuan per share, resulting in an unrealized profit of about 25%.

In June 2025, Wang Zixu also bought 14.38 million shares of Jinnui Mining for 154 million yuan, accounting for 4.99% of the company’s total shares. According to judicial auction notices, the average cost per share was about 10.7 yuan. As of the close on March 13, 2026, Jinnui Mining was trading at 24.85 yuan per share.

According to incomplete statistics, by the end of Q3 2025, Wang Zixu appeared among the top ten circulating shareholders of six stocks, with a total market value of about 981 million yuan. Since 2026, he has also become a shareholder in four listed companies, including Honghe Technology and Zhongbei Communications.

It’s noteworthy that this 23-year-old “market maker” from Shenyang has an impressive track record but remains extremely low-profile, forming a stark contrast. Public information shows no entrepreneurial or industrial experience, and personal details are only glimpsed through company announcements. The source of his funds remains an unsolved mystery. This sense of mystery makes his story compelling and has sparked market discussions about the new generation of investors.

02. Rise of Three Generations of “Market Makers”

Stories like Wang Zixu’s are never in short supply in the market.

Looking back over more than 30 years of A-share history, from the first-generation “market makers” Liu Yiqian and Yang Huaiding, to the 70s-born trading giants like Zhao Jianping, and now to the emerging 90s and 00s newcomers, each era’s “market makers” have had distinct strategies and playbooks. This evolution reflects the transition of the A-share market from wild growth to maturity.

The rise of the first-generation “market makers” coincided with the wild era of the A-share market. In the 1990s and early 2000s, most “market makers” were grassroots investors, starting with small capital and gradually compounding their wealth.

Yang Huaiding was among the earliest to break the mold. In 1988, with just 20,000 yuan, he began his investment journey. According to China Economic Weekly, within a year, he turned 20,000 yuan into 1 million yuan, earning the nickname “Yang Million.” When the Shanghai Stock Exchange opened in 1990, he bought 2,000 shares of “Vacuum Tube” at 91 yuan per share, accounting for half of that day’s trading volume. Within six months, the stock surged to around 800 yuan, yielding over 1.5 million yuan in profit. He then successfully sold at the peak when the Shanghai Composite Index hit 1,500 points, establishing his reputation as an early “market maker.”

Liu Yiqian took a different route. After accumulating initial capital through treasury bonds and stock subscription certificates, he targeted corporate shares that couldn’t be traded on the secondary market in 2000. According to Southern Metropolis Daily, over two years, he acquired stakes in 15 listed companies, totaling 250 million shares of legal entity stock. After the 2005 reform of the share structure, these shares were gradually unlocked, boosting Liu Yiqian’s wealth from several million to hundreds of millions, earning him the title of “King of Legal Entity Shares.”

▲ Liu Yiqian

Despite differing strategies, these early “market makers” all profited from the era’s opportunities—gifts of luck and boldness during the wild growth period.

As the market became more regulated, with trading limits and T+1 rules, the 70s-born “market makers” like Zhao Jianping led a wave of short-term trading. According to Securities Times, Zhao diversified across growth stocks, precisely timed hot stocks, and combined short-term trading with long-term holdings. Over ten years, he grew his holdings from 4.7 million yuan to 1 billion yuan.

This generation’s core approach was short-term speculation and emotional harvesting, making them dominant for a time. However, with tighter regulation, their spotlight dimmed. Today, with the full implementation of the registration system and big data surveillance, the space for short-term speculation has shrunk. The new generation of “market makers” has largely moved away from grassroots rise and quick gains.

From the initial era’s redemptions, to the 70s’ short-term tactics, to today’s rule-based arbitrage exemplified by Wang Zixu, this evolution clearly shows: there are no forever strategies—only players who adapt to the times.

03. The Rise of Young “Market Makers” in Batches

Wang Zixu’s viral fame is not an isolated case but a reflection of the emerging wave of “market makers.” While the market still marvels at this 23-year-old’s story, a new generation of 90s and 00s young investors has quietly entered the scene, forming an influential force.

Compared to the previous generations, the new “market makers” have inherent advantages. Many stand on their parents’ capital, with ample funds and a better understanding of market rules.

Wang Zixu, at just 23, entered with substantial capital, focusing on judicial auctions, private placements, and asset management—areas where institutional and private capital converge. Another young investor, Zhang Yu, born in 1992, graduated from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, then studied at London Business School, majoring in finance. After working at Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong, he spent 450 million yuan in late 2024 acquiring major assets through judicial auctions and agreements, demonstrating significant capital strength.

Post-95, Zhang Aoxing, son of Jiangsu Ruihua Investment founder Zhang Jianbin, has also begun to make waves. Between November and December 2024, he invested about 400 million yuan, acquiring stakes in companies like Muli Technology and Guanshi Technology, each reaching a 5% shareholding.

Many of these young players have professional financial backgrounds, excel at understanding rules, and prefer low-cost, long-term positioning—forming a stark contrast to the “wild growth” approach of earlier generations.

The emergence of these young “market makers” signals that individual large-capital investors in A-shares are moving toward institutionalized operations.

In early years, individual investors in A-shares mostly engaged in short-term trading. Dong Dengxin, director of the Financial Securities Research Institute at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, once said: “Because individual investors have small, dispersed funds and lack the ability for diversified or long-term investing, they tend to ‘put all eggs in one basket’—engaging in short-term speculation and quick profits.” At that time, chasing highs, high-frequency trading, and speculative trading dominated, while institutions monopolized low-risk, high-threshold channels like private placements and legal auctions.

With the full implementation of the registration system and ongoing market reforms, channels previously exclusive to institutions—like private placements and legal auctions—are gradually opening to large individual investors, attracting more young “market makers.”

Today, young “market makers” like Wang Zixu, Zhang Yu, and Zhang Aoxing have moved away from the short-term, emotion-driven strategies of earlier generations. Instead, they operate more like institutions—focusing on long-term holdings and strategic allocations. Wang Zixu’s repeated participation in Jinlong Shares’ legal auctions and continuous accumulation, Zhang Yu’s long-term holding of auctioned assets waiting for value recovery—they buy at “wholesale prices,” patiently wait for the right moment, and do what institutional investors do.

This shift not only redefines the profile of “market makers” but also highlights that these individual large-capital players still primarily profit from low-cost acquisitions and valuation spreads. Compared to genuine institutional long-term investing, there’s still a gap. The influx of large individual funds boosts market activity but also raises higher demands for regulation and transparency.

(Author | Zhou Xiaguang, Editor | Lang Ming, Image Source | Visual China, Content from Caijing Tianxia WEEKLY)