10.5 billion - Changzhou's richest person, "in trouble?"

Radar Finance Production | Text by Peng Cheng | Edited by Meng Shuai

A “black swan” suddenly appeared without warning, directly targeting the trillion-yuan hydraulic leader—Hengli Hydraulic.

On the evening of March 20, Hengli Hydraulic announced that its actual controller and chairman, Wang Liping, has been detained and placed under investigation by the Jiangsu Provincial Supervision Commission.

It is worth noting that just half a month ago, Wang Liping’s family was named the richest in Changzhou, Jiangsu, with a fortune of 105 billion yuan, nearly doubling their wealth from the previous year.

By 2025, Hengli Hydraulic’s stock price has increased by over 100% overall. However, at a high point in the company’s stock price, the family-controlled shareholding platform completed a major reduction of nearly 3 billion yuan in the second half of last year.

Looking back at Wang Liping’s entrepreneurial journey, he spent over 30 years transforming a small workshop with only seven employees into a leading global hydraulic enterprise.

But from the peak of wealth to sudden detention, this billionaire business magnate may be facing the most severe test since starting his business.

From a business perspective, Hengli Hydraulic delivered a solid performance in the first three quarters of last year: revenue increased by 12.31% year-on-year to 7.79 billion yuan, and net profit attributable to shareholders rose by 16.49% to 2.087 billion yuan.

However, behind this seemingly impressive financial report, there are some hidden concerns. In the first three quarters of last year, the net cash flow from operating activities decreased by nearly 20%. Additionally, by the end of the third quarter, the company’s accounts receivable and inventories had both increased by over 20% compared to the end of the previous year.

Wealth Doubles, Changzhou’s Richest Suddenly Detained

On the evening of March 20, Hengli Hydraulic, known as the “hydraulic king,” announced that it had received a notice from Wang Liping’s family informing that he had recently received a “Notice of Filing” and a “Notice of Detention” issued by the Jiangsu Provincial Supervision Commission.

Hengli Hydraulic stated that the company has made proper arrangements for related work. Daily operations are managed by the senior management team, with other directors and senior executives performing their duties normally. Production and business activities are proceeding as usual, and the company emphasized that “these matters will not have a significant impact on the company’s operations.”

According to public reports, Wang Liping’s last public appearance was on February 26 of this year.

At that time, the Taiyuan Heavy Machinery Group Co., Ltd. announced that its Party Secretary and Chairman, Tao Jiajin, met with Wang Liping and his delegation. The two sides discussed deepening industrial collaboration and achieving mutual benefits.

Wang Liping stated that Hengli Hydraulic would leverage its advantages in technological innovation, market resources, and overseas expansion to help Taiyuan Heavy improve its competitive edge and expand its brand influence with higher quality and better service.

Just two weeks before the detention announcement, on March 5, Wang Liping’s family, with a fortune of 105 billion yuan, ranked 194th on the “2026 Hurun Global Rich List,” nearly doubling their wealth from the previous year and reclaiming the title of Changzhou’s richest.

The sharp increase in Wang Liping’s family wealth is closely related to Hengli Hydraulic’s performance in the capital markets over the past year. In 2025, the company’s stock price surged by more than 100% throughout the year.

However, at the peak of Hengli Hydraulic’s stock price, Wang Liping’s family carried out a large-scale reduction in holdings in the second half of last year.

According to a公告 released by Hengli Hydraulic on November 28, 2024, the company’s second-largest shareholder, Shenno Technology (Hong Kong) Limited, reduced its stake by 2.39% from September 1, 2024, to November 28, 2024, at prices ranging from 84 yuan to 104.82 yuan per share, totaling approximately 2.926 billion yuan.

According to the company’s financial reports, Shenno Technology (Hong Kong) Limited is controlled by Wang Liping, the actual controller of Hengli Hydraulic, along with his wife, Qian Peixin, and son, Wang Qi.

It is noteworthy that Wang Liping’s detention is not the only recent case involving the actual controllers of Changzhou’s machinery equipment companies.

In January, Tianyuan Intelligent, listed on the A-share main board and also based in Changzhou, Jiangsu, announced that its actual controller and chairman, Wu Yizhong, was placed under detention and under investigation by the Jiangsu Provincial Supervision Commission.

The specific reasons for Wang Liping’s detention have not been disclosed in Hengli Hydraulic’s announcement. The successive detention of the controllers of two major machinery companies in Changzhou has sparked market speculation about potential common issues within the industry or region.

From Village Technician to Billionaire

Wang Liping, who is currently detained, serves as chairman of Hengli Hydraulic. In 2024, he received a pre-tax compensation of 1.3044 million yuan from the company.

Public information shows that Wang Liping was born in a rural area of Wuxi, Jiangsu. Early in his career, he worked as a technician at a township pneumatic factory. This grassroots experience laid the foundation for his later entrepreneurial success in the hydraulic field.

In the 1990s, driven by entrepreneurial dreams, Wang Liping used his savings of 50,000 yuan to establish a small company with only seven employees—Hengli Pneumatic.

This company was the predecessor of Hengli Hydraulic. In its early days, it mainly produced pneumatic cylinders and control valves.

Despite the hardships of starting out, Wang Liping’s keen market insight and dedication to technology led his team to continuous exploration and innovation.

Around 1996, as China’s excavator market experienced rapid growth, the quality issues of domestically produced hydraulic cylinders failed to meet the supporting needs of main engine manufacturers. Seeing this market opportunity, Wang Liping decided to enter the excavator hydraulic cylinder sector.

In the late 1990s, after repeated testing and technical breakthroughs, his team successfully developed the first generation of excavator-specific hydraulic cylinders, breaking foreign technical monopolies. The products were well received, and Hengli Hydraulic’s reputation gradually grew within the industry.

Entering the new century, Hengli Hydraulic did not rest on its laurels but increased R&D investment and continued to tackle technical challenges.

According to Securities Times, in 2005, Hengli Hydraulic successfully developed high-pressure pumps and motors for excavators, once again breaking foreign long-term monopoly in this field.

This product achieved international advanced performance levels and was priced at about half of comparable foreign products. With this advantage, it quickly captured the domestic market and began expanding internationally.

Tianyancha shows that Hengli Hydraulic was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2011. With the help of capital markets, the company’s scale continued to grow.

Radar Finance’s review indicates that from 2016 to 2024 (excluding 2022), Hengli Hydraulic’s performance maintained a steady upward trend.

During this period, revenue grew from 1.37 billion yuan to 9.39 billion yuan, and net profit attributable to shareholders increased from 70 million yuan to 2.509 billion yuan, achieving leapfrog development.

After more than 30 years, Hengli Hydraulic has evolved from a single hydraulic cylinder manufacturer into a large integrated enterprise involved in high-pressure cylinders, plunger pumps, hydraulic valves, industrial valves, hydraulic systems, testing rigs, and high-precision hydraulic castings.

The company has invested in and built high-pressure precision hydraulic casting bases, hydraulic valve and pump manufacturing facilities, and expanded overseas through acquisitions such as Inlai in Germany and establishing new offices in Chicago, USA, and Tokyo, Japan.

Revenue and Profit Growth Amid Challenges

Latest financial data shows that in the first three quarters of 2025, Hengli Hydraulic achieved revenue of 7.79 billion yuan, up 12.31% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 2.087 billion yuan, up 16.49%.

However, behind these seemingly impressive figures, the company still faces significant challenges. In the first three quarters of last year, net cash flow from operating activities was 1.059 billion yuan, down 19.75% year-on-year.

As of September 2025, accounts receivable reached 1.725 billion yuan, a 25.8% increase from the end of 2024’s 1.371 billion yuan; inventories rose from 1.765 billion yuan at the end of 2024 to 2.179 billion yuan by September 2025, an increase of over 23.4%.

Zheshang Securities’ research report notes that Hengli Hydraulic’s product line has expanded from single cylinders to a dual drive of cylinders and pumps/valves. When listed in 2011, cylinder revenue accounted for 99%; by 2024, pump/valve revenue reached 38%, and cylinders 51%.

In recent years, Hengli Hydraulic has also increased its layout in new businesses such as electrification and linear drives. In 2021, the company announced a private placement plan, raising up to 5 billion yuan to fund projects like the Hengli Mexico plant and linear actuator development.

The 2025 semi-annual report shows that as a core part of Hengli Hydraulic’s “electrification” strategy, the linear drive project achieved notable progress last year, developing over 50 new products, all of which have been successfully mass-produced and launched to market, responding to industry needs with diversified, highly adaptable product matrices.

Hengli Hydraulic states that its linear transmission products, backed by technological advantages and quality assurance, quickly gained industry attention upon market entry. In the first half of last year, the company expanded its customer base significantly, adding nearly 300 new clients through a combination of direct sales and distribution channels.

However, according to China News Weekly, Zheshang Securities recently issued a research report indicating that Hengli Hydraulic’s current valuation (about 48 times P/E) already reflects optimistic expectations for its new businesses (such as humanoid robots and pump/valve expansion). The report warns that if these new businesses do not reach mass production or expansion targets as expected, and combined with the market sentiment pressure from the large-scale reduction of holdings by the controlling family, the valuation could face contraction.

Goldman Sachs also recently stated that although Hengli Hydraulic’s fundamentals remain solid, its current stock price has overly priced in growth expectations in new fields like humanoid robots. The firm set a target price of 83 yuan and warned that if company performance or new business progress fall short of expectations, there could be a valuation correction, with about 20% downside potential from current levels.

Radar Finance will continue to monitor the developments regarding Wang Liping’s detention.