Resigned 22 days before the expiration of his term

On March 20th, Ji Yudong, Vice Chairman and General Manager of Xinxiang Chemical Fiber, announced his resignation due to personal reasons. The resignation report will take effect upon delivery to the board of directors.It is noteworthy that the resignation of Ji Yudong occurred less than 22 days before the scheduled expiration of his term: he was appointed as General Manager on April 11, 2023, with his original term scheduled to end on April 11, 2026, the same date as the expiration of the company's 11th Board of Directors.

Public records show that Ji Yudong was born in Qixian County, Kaifeng, Henan Province in 1969. He graduated from the Chemical Fiber Major of the Textile and Chemical Engineering Department of Henan Institute of Engineering in July 1991 and joined Xinxiang Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd. in the same month. He has served in various positions including technician, workshop deputy director, spandex factory director, general manager assistant, deputy general manager, general manager, and vice chairman. He personally holds 76,100 shares in the company and earned a salary of 566,000 yuan in 2024.

 （图：新乡化纤2024年高管薪酬表）

It remains unknown why Ji Yudong suddenly resigned and whether it is related to the company's operations.

However, according to the public information disclosed by Xinxiang Chemical Fiber, the company is experiencing a downturn after its peak and is attempting to climb to a new operational high. As a local state-owned enterprise in Xinxiang City, Henan Province, Xinxiang Chemical Fiber is a dual leader in the viscose filament and spandex industries. The company primarily produces biomass cellulose filaments and spandex fibers, and is a leading enterprise in the biomass cellulose filament industry. Specifically, its biomass cellulose filament production capacity stands at 100,000 tons, with over 60 years of production experience; its spandex fiber production capacity is 200,000 tons, with over 20 years of production experience.

As a strong-cycle industry, Xinxiang Chemical Fiber achieved a revenue of 8.74 billion yuan during the industry's peak in 2021, with net profit attributable to shareholders reaching 1.384 billion yuan. The overall gross profit margin reached 33.06%, with spandex fiber achieving a gross profit margin of 41.28%. However, as the industry declined in 2022, the company fell into losses for two consecutive years, with net profit attributable to shareholders of -435 million yuan and -42 million yuan in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Although it turned profitable to 246 million yuan in 2024, the profitability stability is worrying.

Recent financial reports show that the company's business is experiencing a trend of "increasing revenue without increasing profits" and "increasing volume without increasing prices". In the first three quarters of 2025, the company achieved operating revenue of 5.74 billion yuan, up 3.28% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 133 million yuan, down 33.15% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 94.245 million yuan, down 51.42% year-on-year. The gross profit margin of the spandex business was only 0.27%, far lower than that of its peer Huafeng Chemical, which stands at 18.65%.

（图：新乡化纤2025年上半年主营业务构成及毛利率）

Financial pressure behind frequent fundraising

In order to maintain its development momentum, Xinxiang Chemical Fiber has frequently raised funds to expand its production in recent years, with a total fundraising amount of over 3 billion yuan in the past 10 years. In 2014, 2016, and 2021, the company raised RMB 580 million, RMB 971 million, and RMB 973 million respectively through private placements; In May 2022, it is planned to increase the private placement by no more than 855 million yuan and complete it in April 2024.

However, behind the frequent fundraising, financial pressure continues to be prominent. As of the end of September 2025, the company's monetary funds amounted to 1.229 billion yuan, with interest bearing liabilities reaching 5.345 billion yuan. The coverage of monetary funds over current liabilities was only 47.25%, indicating a tightening of short-term liquidity. The financial expenses in the first three quarters reached 99.0271 million yuan, even exceeding the non net profit deducted in the same period, significantly eroding the profit margin.

In November 2024, the Henan Securities Regulatory Bureau ordered Xinxiang Chemical Fiber to make corrections and issued a warning letter, pointing out that it had problems such as undisclosed related party fund transactions and missing procedures for the use of raised funds in 2022-2023. Breakout and betting under pressure

Faced with the pressure on its main business profitability and heavy financial burden, Xinxiang Chemical Fiber is trying to find a breakthrough point through technological innovation.

In the first quarter of 2025, the company's two cutting-edge projects will be put into operation successively: one is the pilot project of producing 5000 tons of mushroom grass biomass fiber annually, attempting to replace wood pulp with mushroom grass and break the bottleneck problem of high dependence on imported dissolved pulp; Secondly, the world's first DT solvent based regenerated cellulose fiber project (with an annual output of 1000 tons of Renesas fiber) has been put into operation, achieving a closed-loop cycle from waste linen to fibers and entering the new track of medical and high-end home textiles. Both of these technologies have been selected as typical cases by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, showcasing the technological heritage of established state-owned enterprises. At the same time, in January 2026, the first phase of the 100000 ton annual production of functional spandex fiber project officially started, with a total investment of 1.22 billion yuan, in order to enhance the company's core competitiveness in the high-end fiber field.

These innovative actions indicate that this billion dollar state-owned enterprise, which has been deeply involved in chemical fiber for more than 60 years, is striving to break free from traditional low price competition and transform towards high added value, green and low-carbon direction. However, transformation requires time and more importantly, financial support. The sudden resignation of a senior executive who has been employed for 35 years has left a hint of suspense for Xinxiang Chemical Fiber's breakthrough battle.