As the entire Vanke system faces an operational crisis in 2025, certain individuals are quietly profiting in the background.

In 2025, China Vanke Co.,Ltd. (000002.SZ) reported a staggering loss of 88.556 billion yuan, averaging over 200 million yuan in daily losses. Concurrently, its Hong Kong-listed property management subsidiary, Onewo (02602.HK), saw its annual profit plummet to just 772 million yuan, a 38% year-on-year decrease.

Onewo, formerly known as Vanke Property which was established in 1992, was spun off from Vanke and listed in Hong Kong in 2022. The Chairman of Onewo is Zhu Baoquan, who previously served as a Co-President of the Vanke Group, assisting President Zhu Jiuzheng in managing service operations and directly participating in major strategic and operational decisions for the group.

In 2022, Zhu Baoquan led Onewo's successful IPO in Hong Kong. He and other senior executives received shares worth billions of yuan through equity incentive plans, making them the perceived "biggest winners" of the listing.

However, Onewo stock may not be the only avenue through which its executives receive "incentives."

During a period when Vanke should have been tightening its belt, its outsourcing fees paid to two related suppliers in 2025 actually increased by 9.4%, with annual expenditures nearing 7 billion yuan. From 2020 to the present, these two suppliers have accumulated nearly 17 billion yuan in outsourcing fees from Vanke.

An investigation reveals that behind these two suppliers lurk "shadow companies" established by Onewo's senior management in the Cayman Islands.

This indicates that, separate from the shadow companies controlled by Vanke's top management already known to the market, Onewo's executives have also created their own set of shadow entities, siphoning value from Onewo. The investigation found that besides the two major suppliers mentioned, Onewo's shadow companies have also infiltrated several small and medium-sized suppliers, profiting as shareholders from these suppliers' earnings.

Furthermore, shadow companies controlled by Onewo executives allegedly played an "intermediary" role in Onewo's acquisition of Zhuhai Dantian Property. They first acquired equity in Dantian Property through a holding platform, only later transferring the platform's equity to Onewo. There is no public information confirming whether the shadow companies profited from an inflated sale price to Onewo, but this "middleman" transaction process is remarkably similar to practices observed with shadow companies linked to the parent company, Vanke, and raises similar questions.

The profit models of these shadow companies—reselling equity in investment targets to the listed company and taking stakes in suppliers to share profits—are virtually identical to those used by shadow companies associated with the Vanke Group.

This suggests that the so-called "professional managers" championed by Vanke and Onewo may have designed, from the top down, a shareholding structure and transaction process, using this established model to amass significant wealth from Vanke, an entity perceived by some as lacking clear, concentrated ownership.

As Vanke sinks deeper into a debt crisis, several former senior executives of Onewo resigned last year. However, their holdings in the shadow companies reportedly remain. With multiple Vanke executives under investigation, can these former Onewo executives emerge unscathed?

Shadow Companies Behind Super-Suppliers

In 2025, Vanke paid a combined 6.93 billion yuan in outsourcing fees for security, electrical, and mechanical services to two suppliers.

This amount constitutes 22% of the annual operating costs of its property management subsidiary, Onewo. It is nearly equivalent to the total sales revenue of Vanke's Northwest Region for the entire year of 2025, a region encompassing Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang.

These two super-suppliers are Shenzhen Wanyu Security Service Technology Co., Ltd. (Wanyu Security) and Hainan Wanjing Environmental Sanitation Technology Service Co., Ltd. (Wanjing Environmental).

Wanyu Security originated from the Security and MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing) Operations Center of Vanke Property. After being spun off, 40% of its equity is held by a fund under Onewo, and 5% is held by Hikvision. Leveraging this equity relationship, Wanyu Security has virtually monopolized the security and MEP business for Onewo.

However, Vanke's promotional materials have never disclosed the ownership of the remaining 55% equity in Wanyu Security, leaving its ultimate controller hidden for years.

An investigation found that control of Wanyu Security likely rests with Onewo's senior management.

Business registration information shows that the remaining 55% stake in Wanyu Security is held by three funds.

Specifically, 36.5% is held by Shenzhen Ruiying Management Consulting Partnership. Initially, this partnership was owned by Shenzhen Kunpeng Wanli Financial Consulting Enterprise and Yuanzhen (Shenzhen) Asset Management Co., Ltd.

Upon further tracing, Kunpeng Wanli was found to be 50% owned by Yan Xiongbo, former General Manager of Vanke Property, with former COO Shou Yongchun and former Supervisory Board Chairman Xiang Yun each holding 25%. Yuanzhen Asset Management is wholly owned by Shenzhen Naide Industrial Co., Ltd., whose early registered address was the same as that of Shenzhen Vanke Financial Consulting Co., Ltd. and other known shadow companies.

The term "shadow Vanke" refers to companies established by Vanke Group executives outside the listed entity, which may engage in related-party transactions to extract wealth. Previous investigations have exposed how shadow companies, particularly those linked to the "Boshan" system, profited by reselling land to Vanke.

The ultimate shareholders behind the additional 11.5% stake in Wanyu Security also trace back to the aforementioned shadow company, Naide Industrial. The remaining 7% stake is held by Shenzhen Dingsheng Enterprise Development Partnership, which is ultimately 75% owned by former COO Shou Yongchun and 25% by former Supervisory Board Chairman Xiang Yun.

In essence, the remaining 55% stake in Wanyu Security is dispersed across three funds, with the executives' ownership information concealed through multiple layers.

Apparently deeming this structure insufficiently secure, the management transferred all three funds in 2021—just before Onewo's IPO—to Zhuhai Duishu Information Technology Co., Ltd. This company is ultimately controlled by a Hong Kong-registered entity named Log Technology Co., Limited.

According to exclusively obtained documents, the parent company of Log Technology Co., Limited is Ruida Investments II Limited Partnership, registered in the Cayman Islands. This partnership has only one director: Shou Yongchun, the former COO of Vanke Property.

In its 2022 listing documents, Onewo disclosed employee shareholding platforms registered in the Cayman Islands named Ruida Investments I, III, and IV Limited Partnerships. After layered ownership tracing, these platforms were ultimately held 67% by Chairman Zhu Baoquan and 33% by Supervisory Board Chairman Xiang Yun at the time of listing.

Despite its similar name and connection to a former Onewo COO as its director, this "No. II" fund was never disclosed as an employee shareholding platform. This raises questions about who truly controls this hidden fund and how the profits from its 55% stake in Wanyu Security are distributed.

Disclosures show that starting in 2020, Wanyu Security secured large contracts from Vanke, receiving 3.652 billion yuan in outsourcing fees. After the official launch of the Wanyu Security brand in 2021, the outsourcing amount surged to 4.591 billion yuan.

In 2022, a new supplier, Wanjing Environmental, appeared on Vanke's outsourcing list. That year, combined outsourcing fees paid to Wanjing Environmental and Wanyu Security reached 5.4 billion yuan, rising further to 6.336 billion yuan by 2024. Even in crisis-stricken 2025, outsourcing fees to these two suppliers continued to grow, approaching 7 billion yuan for the year.

The new supplier, Wanjing Environmental, also follows a similar pattern: only 40% is owned by Onewo, with the remaining equity historically controlled by Vanke executives—initially held directly by Onewo management and later transferred to the Hong Kong company Log Technology Co., Limited.

Thus, Onewo's shadow companies have been consistently positioned behind these two major suppliers, profiting from the substantial outsourcing contracts.

Shadow Companies as Acquisition Intermediaries

The investigation also found that beyond the two super-suppliers, several other suppliers to Onewo are linked to these shadow companies.

In 2013, Onewo launched "Zhu Zhe'er," a community mobile application connecting homeowners, merchants, and service providers, followed by mini-programs for Vanke Property. These were developed and operated by Shenzhen Fifth Space Network Technology Co., Ltd.

Initially, Fifth Space Technology was wholly owned by Onewo. However, this ownership structure lasted less than three months after Onewo's successful IPO.

In September 2022, Onewo listed in Hong Kong. By December 2022, 55% of Fifth Space Technology's equity had been transferred to two external companies controlled by Onewo executives: Shenzhen Huizhan Zhishu Management Consulting Co., Ltd. and Shenzhen Heyi Jiawei Management Consulting Co., Ltd.

These external companies are owned by individuals including Liang Qigeng, Chen Moyao, and Niu Xiaoxiao. According to media reports, Liang Qigeng joined Vanke in 1998, held positions such as General Manager of Wuhan Vanke Property and General Manager of Sunan Vanke Property, and once served as Chairman of Wanyu Security; Chen Moyao is head of the Digital Operations Center at Vanke Property; Niu Xiaoxiao is Dean of the Vanke Property Butler Academy.

Another company linked to the "Zhu Zhe'er" app in business registries is Shenzhen Xingfu She Network Technology Co., Ltd. This company is entirely controlled by shadow companies, with Onewo holding no equity.

Xingfu She Company is equally owned by Shenzhen Xingfu Yizhan Enterprise Management Partnership and Shenzhen Xingfu Community Enterprise Management Partnership. Ultimately, these are each 25% owned by former COO Shou Yongchun, former Supervisory Board Chairman Xiang Yun, Butler Academy Dean Niu Xiaoxiao, and Hou Yueyue, who media reports identify as a Partner in Onewo's Finance and Operations Management Department.

Additionally, a payment services company named Fuxun Information Technology Co., Ltd. provides payment services and marketing SaaS for Vanke's long-term rental, property management, real estate, and commercial segments. Onewo holds only 30% of this company, a licensed payment institution holds 40%, and the remaining 20% is ultimately held by the shadow company Log Technology Co., Limited.

Another joint venture, Shenzhen Longcheng Sheshang Investment Holding Co., Ltd., is 49% owned by an Onewo subsidiary, with the remaining 51% held by Shenzhen Jiayuan Management Consulting Co., Ltd., which is ultimately controlled by Log Technology Co., Limited.

A further joint venture, Shenzhou Guyu Sheshang Investment Holding Co., Ltd., is 49% owned by Onewo, with 51% held by Shenzhen Xingfu Yizhan Enterprise Management Partnership, whose ultimate owners are the aforementioned executives Shou Yongchun, Xiang Yun, and Hou Yueyue.

Based on their business scope and public information, these companies, partially or fully owned by shadow entities, likely act as suppliers to Onewo. The shadow companies remain hidden behind them, yet Onewo has never disclosed these related-party relationships.

The investigation also uncovered that shadow companies controlled by Onewo executives acted as intermediaries in Onewo's acquisition of Zhuhai Dantian Property.

Starting in 2021, Onewo's acquisition platform, Zhuhai Ruiyi Development Co., Ltd., gradually acquired stakes in Zhuhai Dantian Property Management Co., Ltd., reaching approximately 87.25% ownership by 2024. Zhuhai Ruiyi is 33.17% owned by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Onewo, with the remaining 66.83% held by Shenzhen Qianhai Wenyi Investment Consulting Center.

Examining the historical shareholder list of Qianhai Wenyi reveals equity transfers around the time of the Dantian acquisition, with the sellers being shadow companies controlled by Onewo management.

Prior to 2024, only 48% of Qianhai Wenyi was owned by a fund under Onewo. The majority stake was held by Shenzhen Ruiying Management Consulting Partnership, which is ultimately controlled by the shadow company Log Technology Co., Limited.

On June 4, 2024, Ruiying Consulting transferred its 49% stake in Qianhai Wenyi to a subsidiary of Dantian Property. Just seven days later, on June 11, 2024, this subsidiary transferred the stake to a fund under Onewo. Consequently, Onewo acquired 98.96% of Qianhai Wenyi, becoming the actual controller of Zhuhai Dantian.

Following this equity shuffle in 2024, Vanke issued a press release announcing the "strategic merger" of Dantian Property, marking its entry into large public space services and enhancing capabilities for specialized scenarios like universities and hospitals.

This sequence indicates that the shadow company first acquired equity in the holding platform that owned Dantian Property, then subsequently sold its stake to Onewo. While public information does not confirm whether the shadow company profited from an inflated price in this sale to Onewo, the rationale for this "middleman" transaction step remains puzzling.