Zijin Founder Who Built the $100-Billion Chinese Miner Retires

(Bloomberg) — Zijin Mining Group Co.’s founder Chen Jinghe will step down as chairman after steering the company to the upper echelon of global metals miners following a decades-long run of growth.

The 68-year-old will become honorary chairman and senior consultant for the company after deciding to not accept nomination as a candidate for the board due to age and family reasons, according to an exchange filing on Saturday. The Fujian-based group didn’t name a successor.

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Zijin’s market value ballooned to more than $100 billion this year for the first time, underpinned by surging prices for its key commodities, especially copper and gold. The company started with a small gold mine in China in the 1980s, and its value is now only surpassed by Rio Tinto Group and BHP Group.

Zijin’s competitiveness is “systematic and structural” and the company’s “successful growth story will continue,” Citigroup Inc. analysts including Jack Shang wrote in a note. The bank maintained the miner as a top pick, saying that its copper and lithium assets are undervalued.

A company with enduring success should transit from being “founder-driven” to “institution-driven,” and the management team is mature, making it the best time to transition to a new leadership, Chen said in the statement.

Zijin shares rose as much as 6.9% in Hong Kong on Monday alongside other producers of copper after the metal advanced to a record.

On the Wire

China’s manufacturing activity contracted in November, according to official and private surveys, as stronger demand overseas after a trade truce with the US failed to reverse a deepening slowdown in the economy.

China is seeking to establish an ecological policing mechanism by 2027 to crack down on ecological crimes, according to a government statement jointly issued by the Ministry of Public Security and other agencies.

Taiwan plans to buy its first weapons for a major air-defense system announced less than two months ago, underscoring Taipei’s urgency to get the program online as China escalates its military intimidation.

This Week’s Diary

(All times Beijing)

Monday, Dec. 1:

Tuesday, Dec. 2:

Wednesday, Dec. 3:

Thursday, Dec. 4:

Friday, Dec. 5:

• China weekly iron ore port stockpiles

• Shanghai exchange weekly commodities inventory, ~3:30pm