Executive departure + share unlock + expected losses exceeding 120 million—where is Yantai Oriental Ocean headed?

Economic Observer reporter Shi Xiaoyi

As executives step down upon reaching retirement age and three years of frozen equity are set to be released, Oriental Ocean (002086.SZ) has recently seen frequent moves on both personnel and capital fronts.

Economic Observer reporter reviewed the announcements and found that, following a net profit attributable to shareholders of a loss of RMB 190 million in 2024, Oriental Ocean’s 2025 performance forecast shows that the company is expected to still record a full-year loss of RMB 126 million—RMB 169 million. With performance under pressure for two consecutive years, when an operating turnaround will occur remains unclear.

01

Vice President and President of the Ocean Business Unit resign

On March 31, Oriental Ocean announced that its Vice President and President of the Ocean Business Unit, Tang Jiyu, resigned from all positions he held due to reaching the statutory retirement age.

According to the resume, Tang Jiyu was born in June 1965 and is a member of the Communist Party of China. He holds a bachelor’s degree and has nearly 40 years of experience in the aquatic products industry and corporate management. Earlier in his career, he served as Deputy Secretary of the Youth League Committee and Director of the Office, as well as Minister of Import and Export and Assistant General Manager, at various posts in Yantai Aquatic Products Supply and Marketing Co., Ltd. of Shandong Province. After joining Oriental Ocean, he successively held multiple core positions, including Minister of Standardized Management, Supervisor, and Vice President; he also served as General Manager of Yantai Shan Hai Foods Co., Ltd. Since 2012, he has served as the company’s Vice President and has been in the company’s core management for 14 years to date, making him one of the key management personnel driving the development of the company’s traditional marine food main business.

Oriental Ocean’s 2024 annual report disclosed that Tang Jiyu’s total pre-tax compensation received from the company in 2024 was RMB 240,000. As of the disclosure date of his resignation announcement, he held no shares of Oriental Ocean.

02

Loss in 2025 expected to exceed RMB 120 million

Oriental Ocean previously disclosed its 2025 annual performance forecast. The company expects to achieve operating revenue of RMB 350 million to RMB 370 million in 2025, a year-on-year modest increase; net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies is expected to be a loss of RMB 126 million to RMB 169 million, with the loss amount narrowing year on year. After deducting non-recurring gains and losses, net profit is expected to be a loss of RMB 142 million to RMB 185 million, with the loss amount also narrowing.

From the latest equity structure, Oriental Ocean’s controlling shareholder is a private equity fund under China Minmetals Jintong Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd.—the Jintong Dongyang Private Equity Investment Fund—which holds 18.26% of the shares. In 2023, Oriental Ocean entered bankruptcy reorganization proceedings. This shareholder entered the restructuring with RMB 1.354 billion in reorganization funds, focusing on clearing the company’s historical debt burdens and becoming the company’s largest shareholder.

Shenzhen Qianhai Yuanyuan Private Securities Fund Management Co., Ltd. is Oriental Ocean’s second-largest shareholder. Between September 2025 and February 2026, it completed multiple rounds of share reductions, with total cash proceeds of approximately RMB 330 million. As of the end of February 2026, its shareholding ratio had been reduced from above 5% to 4.99999%, and then further decreased to 3.82%. Yantai Zhengda Urban Construction and Development Co., Ltd. and Shan Gao (Yantai) Chenxing Investment Center (Limited Partnership) rank as the company’s third- and fourth-largest shareholders, with shareholding ratios of 3.43% and 2.70%, respectively.

Oriental Ocean was established in December 2001. It listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in November 2006. Its registered address is in Laishan District, Yantai, and its registered capital is RMB 1.959 billion. The legal representative is Liu Hongtao. The company’s main businesses cover five major areas: R&D, breeding and cultivation of seawater seedlings; ecological breeding in marine ranching; aquatic food processing; bonded warehousing and logistics; and precision medicine.

03

A tranche of equity will be unfrozen

Recently, Economic Observer reporter noticed that the equity interest of RMB 13.5 million held by Oriental Ocean in Beier Hospital (Yantai) Co., Ltd., is set to officially expire and be unfrozen on April 13.

According to judicial disclosure information, both the execution ruling document number and the execution notice document number for this equity freeze are (2020) Yue 0103 Zhi 4982 No. 7. The execution court is the People’s Court of Liwan District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. The obligated party is Oriental Ocean. The frozen asset is the investment rights in Beier Hospital (Yantai) Co., Ltd. held by the company, and the amount of the frozen asset is RMB 13.5 million.

The announcement date for this equity freeze was April 14, 2023. The freeze start date was the same as the announcement date. The freeze expiration date is April 13, 2026. The freeze term totals 1,095 days, corresponding to a complete three-year judicial freeze validity period. The execution matters include the publicly announced frozen equity and other investment rights. As of the time of writing, there is no disclosure information regarding any renewal of the freeze legal documents.

Regulatory filings disclosed that during the tenure of the former actual controller of Oriental Ocean, Che Xi, there were violations such as large amounts of non-operating funds being occupied and large-scale illegal external guarantees. Starting in 2018, Che Xi, through covert means such as related parties and third-party turnover, misappropriated funds of the listed company under names such as “advance payments” and “accounts receivable/payable.” Beier Hospital (Yantai) Co., Ltd. was also implicated, and the related funds were used in violation of rules for settling off-balance-sheet debts of the former controlling shareholder and for non-listed business activities. Che Xi provided large guarantees to related parties he controlled in the name of the listed company without obtaining consideration from the company’s board of directors or the shareholders’ meeting. After the operations of the former controlling shareholder deteriorated, creditors sued Oriental Ocean and demanded that it bear joint and several liability for repayment. This also became an important cause behind the freeze of this equity.

According to publicly available information, Beier Hospital (Yantai) Co., Ltd. is an important entity in Oriental Ocean’s health-focused business segment, and also one of the core platforms through which the company extends from its traditional marine industry into the medical and healthcare sector. The RMB 13.5 million equity interest being frozen corresponds to the paid-in capital contribution share of Oriental Ocean to this hospital, representing the company’s core equity interest in the company/entity of this underlying asset.

As of the time of writing, Oriental Ocean has not yet issued a special announcement regarding the equity that is set to expire and be unfrozen.

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