Although the detention has been lifted, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd. has not disclosed Car Jianxing's whereabouts in its announcement, nor has he been seen returning to work at the company. Has the business landscape completely changed?

The furniture retail industry has welcomed a rare piece of good news.

On September 22, according to an announcement by Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd. (601828.SH), the Yunnan Provincial Supervisory Commission has lifted the detention measures against Car Jianxing.

However, the public seems apprehensive about his release from detention. In July,居然之家 Chairman Wang Linpeng died unexpectedly four days after his detention was lifted. On social media platforms, many people are worried whether Car Jianxing might face similar circumstances recently.

Beyond such unfounded speculation, Car Jianxing's situation appears more concerning.

When he was detained more than four months ago, Car Jianxing was still the general manager of Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd., but now he only retains his position as a director.

Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s management has undergone a dramatic reshuffle, with Car Jianxing's longtime subordinates almost entirely eliminated, leaving this founder completely stripped of his influence over Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.

The former China furniture retail tycoon has apparently withdrawn from the furniture retail industry he built over nearly 40 years. What remains of the wealth empire he accumulated over half his lifetime?

**Complete Loss of Power**

After Wang Linpeng was released from detention, 居然之家's announcement clearly stated that he had returned to his position and was performing his duties normally. However, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s announcement this time did not reveal Car Jianxing's whereabouts.

On September 23, according to sources, knowledgeable individuals indicated that Car Jianxing, who was released from detention, has not been seen returning to work at the company.

In fact, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd., controlled by Jianfa Group, has long since "changed hands."

In January this year, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd. announced that Vice General Manager Jiang Xiaozhong would, following negotiations, terminate his employment contract effective February 1 and would no longer hold any positions.

Jiang Xiaozhong, 56 years old, joined Red Star Furniture Group in 1994 and served as Vice General Manager of Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd. starting in 2012. Behind the cold corporate announcement was Car Jianxing losing a longtime ally who had fought alongside him for over 30 years.

This marked the beginning of major personnel upheavals in Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s management.

Subsequently, personnel from major shareholder Jianfa Group occupied key positions, while Car Jianxing and his former subordinates, as well as Alibaba-affiliated shareholders, were successively eliminated.

In July, Car Jianxing, two months after being detained, was forced to resign from his position as general manager.

On September 1, after Car Jianxing's detention, Vice General Manager Car Guoxing, who was viewed by outsiders as stabilizing the "morale," resigned for personal reasons.

Car Guoxing, now 50 years old, had been working for Car Jianxing since the 1990s, having served as General Manager of Changzhou Red Star Furniture Industrial City Mall, General Manager of Shanghai Red Star Macalline Decoration Furniture City Co., Ltd. Mall, and President of Red Star Macalline Holding Group Co., Ltd.

Car Guoxing assumed the position of Vice General Manager of Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd. in August 2023, with his original term set to expire in August 2026. This means he only held the vice general manager position for two years, not reaching his scheduled retirement time.

After Car Jianxing's faction was eliminated, executives representing Alibaba also departed successively.

On September 5, non-executive directors Xu Di and Song Guangbin resigned due to work transfers. On September 16, Board Secretary Qiu Zhe resigned from all positions due to personal career planning, and she cashed out approximately 140,000 yuan worth of shares before leaving.

Currently, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s Chairman is 36-year-old Li Yupeng, General Manager is Shi Yaofeng, and Vice General Manager and CFO is Yang Yingwu, all three from Jianfa Group. It can be said that Jianfa Group has fully taken over Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s core management.

Early this month, Li Yupeng's new team made their public debut, clarifying the new five-year plan, with the core focus still on furniture retail business, ensuring that the operating area ratio of core furniture categories is no less than 70%, attempting to transform into a furniture commercial operator.

When the new five-year strategy was released, Car Jianxing was still under investigation. Now that he has regained his freedom, he has lost his voice in Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s future.

**"Furniture Empire" Decline Continues**

"Losing" Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd. was not unexpected for Car Jianxing.

Forty years ago, Car Jianxing, who started as a carpenter, opened a furniture store called "Red Star Woodwork." Twenty-five years ago, it developed into the "Red Star Macalline" furniture mall, going public on both A-shares and H-shares in 2018. That year, Car Jianxing became China's "furniture retail tycoon," with personal wealth reaching 43 billion yuan in 2020.

However, just three years later, to save Red Star Macalline from its debt crisis, Car Jianxing had to sell control to Jianfa Group. From that moment, Car Jianxing was destined to drift further away from the "furniture empire" he had built with his own hands.

Through his controlling Red Star Macalline Holding Group Co., Ltd. (Red Star Holding), Car Jianxing holds the position of second-largest shareholder.

With the effectiveness of Red Star Holding's restructuring, according to Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s announcement on September 4, Red Star Holding's latest shareholding ratio has dropped to 19.95%.

No longer able to intervene in Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s operational affairs, all Car Jianxing can do is passively share in Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s earnings. However, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd. has yet to recover its vitality.

Starting from 2023, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd. turned from profit to loss and has continued losing money. By the first half of this year, its cumulative losses exceeded 7 billion yuan.

Financial reports show that in the first half of this year, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s revenue was approximately 3.34 billion yuan, down 21% year-over-year; net loss was 1.9 billion yuan, expanding 51.63% year-over-year. Both revenue and net profit hit new lows for the same period since the company went public.

Under poor performance, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s debt pressure is also increasing.

As of the end of the first quarter this year, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s total liabilities were 67.654 billion yuan, which increased to 68.13 billion yuan by the end of June.

Under debt pressure, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s financing difficulties are prominent.

More than 70% of Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s assets are pledged or frozen. In 2024, the company's restricted assets reached 84.054 billion yuan, accounting for 72.31% of total assets, with very limited resources available for liquidation. In this situation, only the state-owned major shareholder can extend a helping hand.

After Jianfa Group took control, it first "injected" 3.7 billion yuan into Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd., and in May this year, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd. applied for a 9.5 billion yuan loan.

However, as Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd. continues to lose money, Jianfa Group is also under considerable pressure.

In the first half of this year, Jianfa Group's net profit attributable to shareholders was 841 million yuan, down 29.87% year-over-year, hitting a ten-year low. Among this, considering comprehensive equity ratio factors, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd. contributed -590 million yuan in net profit to Jianfa Group.

Jianfa acquired control for approximately 6.3 billion yuan that year. With Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s stock price decline, this transaction already shows a paper loss of about 2.5 billion yuan. Now, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd. is also eroding Jianfa Group's profits.

Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s model is essentially being a "landlord," with main income from rent from self-operated malls and fees from managed malls. With the real estate market downturn and sharp reduction in offline mall foot traffic, it's difficult to say when Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd., focused on furniture business, can emerge from the expanding losses and debt quagmire.

If the new five-year strategy proves ineffective, support from major shareholder Jianfa might not be as dedicated. For Car Jianxing, he can only watch anxiously from the sidelines.

**Struggling to Preserve the Business**

During Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s expansion years in the furniture sector, Car Jianxing was also continuously expanding his asset portfolio.

In 2007, Red Star Holding was established as a controlling platform for Red Star Group companies, encompassing some of the main businesses Car Jianxing had accumulated over the years.

Red Star Holding is currently Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd.'s second-largest shareholder. As of July 2024, its total assets were approximately 10.919 billion yuan, while total liabilities reached 16.803 billion yuan, falling into insolvency. In July that year, the court ruled to accept Red Star Holding's restructuring.

Outside of Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd., this is the most critical asset in Car Jianxing's hands. Without recruiting investors, he can only take action himself.

According to the restructuring plan, Car Jianxing and his sister Car Jianfang will transfer 89% of their equity holdings to direct creditor shareholders free of charge, with 10% equity adjusted to be held by a gambling platform, leaving the Car siblings with only 1% of Red Star Holding shares. Car Jianxing committed to cooperating in making up the 100 million yuan registered capital and injecting over 3 billion yuan in assets.

According to the performance gambling agreement, if the seventh and eighth natural years from the date of restructuring plan approval achieve annual non-recurring net profits of no less than 450 million yuan and 500 million yuan respectively, and after the original shareholders resolve the 100 million yuan capital shortfall responsibility, original shareholders can obtain 5% of the gambling platform's shares annually.

Struggling to preserve Red Star Holding and regain controlling rights in the future is only because this has become Car Jianxing's last hope.

Among Red Star Holding's real estate businesses, the more valuable one is Shanghai Aegean Sea Commercial Group Co., Ltd. (Aegean Sea Group), a commercial management platform that reportedly planned to go public in 2021, with estimated valuations reaching up to 15 billion yuan. It was previously transferred out but had to be recovered by Red Star Holding due to regulatory requirements during restructuring.

However, Aegean Sea Group's revenue has been declining in recent years, from 460 million yuan in 2022 to 291 million yuan last year.

Another noteworthy company is Wuhan Dongyan Intelligent Design Research Institute Co., Ltd. (Dongyan Intelligence), with Car Jianxing as the actual controller.

In December 2021, after reorganizing its main business, Dongfeng Design Research Institute Co., Ltd. established Dongyan Intelligence, integrating all original engineering technology and equipment businesses into Dongyan Intelligence. In January 2025, Dongyan Intelligence was selected for the "Golden Seed" list in the "2024 Wuhan Listed Reserve 'Golden Seed' and 'Silver Seed' Enterprise List Publicity."

Dongyan Intelligence has not announced a clear IPO timeline, but the company is obviously an important asset of Red Star Holding.

Additionally, Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd. ambitiously entered commercial real estate in 2013, replicating Wanda's model and establishing Red Star Cinema. Currently, Red Star Cinema wholly owns or controls 48 cinema locations, with total box office revenue of 378 million yuan in 2023.

However, as widely known, cinemas are finding it increasingly difficult to make money. Enlight Media Chairman Wang Changtian stated at the opening forum of the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival that "the film industry may generate overall losses of hundreds of billions annually, even one to two hundred billion, and the entire industry has been losing money for at least 10 years."

At this stage, Red Star Cinema probably cannot provide much help to Car Jianxing.

The remaining assets are pure real estate businesses, including Red Star Real Estate (full name Shanghai Red Star Macalline Real Estate Co., Ltd.) and Yuanxing Enterprise Development.

Data shows that Red Star Real Estate has 25 wholly-owned real estate development projects and 10 cooperative projects. However, business records show the company has been subject to multiple enforcement actions, with current enforcement amounts reaching 790 million yuan, plus two shareholder freezing notices involving total amounts of 8 million yuan.

As for Yuanxing Enterprise Development, after Red Star Holding sold it to Sino-Ocean Group, it currently holds 28.51% equity. Business records show this company has also been subject to multiple enforcement actions, with enforcement amounts exceeding 1.1 billion yuan to date. Frozen equity amounts total 860 million yuan.

For Red Star Holding to overcome its crisis and restore its former glory requires all the above businesses to work together and climb upward, but the prospects currently look uncertain.

Car Jianxing, drifting further away from the furniture retail industry, can only continue to endure in order to preserve his family business.