On August 14, shares of *ST Qingyue (688496) closed at 0.92 yuan, with its total market capitalization shrinking to 414 million yuan, marking the first time the stock has fallen below the 1 yuan face value since its listing. This marks the eighth consecutive trading day the stock has traded below the 1 yuan threshold. Under the Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market rules, if the closing price remains below 1 yuan for 20 consecutive trading days, the exchange will directly terminate the listing without a delisting adjustment period. Just three months ago, the company received an administrative penalty notice from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) for falsifying financial data, potentially triggering a mandatory delisting for major violations. The simultaneous activation of two delisting red lines is rare in the history of the STAR Market.
Once hailed as a "manufacturing single champion" in display technology, the company's journey from its IPO bell-ringing to the brink of delisting spanned less than three years. Founded in 2010 in Kunshan, Suzhou, Qingyue Technology leveraged the technical expertise of Tsinghua University's organic optoelectronics laboratory, starting with PMOLED display devices before expanding into electronic paper modules and silicon-based OLED microdisplays. It operated China's first mass production line for PMOLED, ranking first globally in PMOLED shipments from 2019, serving clients in smart homes, healthcare, automotive, industrial controls, and consumer electronics. On December 28, 2022, Qingyue Technology listed on the STAR Market with an IPO price of 9 yuan, issuing 90 million shares and raising 824 million yuan. The lead underwriter was Guangfa Securities, and the auditor was Lixin Certified Public Accountants.
However, behind the backing of these prominent intermediaries, Qingyue Technology managed to deceive the market, not only presenting falsified financial data at the time of its IPO but also continuing fraudulent practices after listing. The CSRC's subsequent investigation revealed a starkly different reality. According to the Administrative Penalty Notice (Penalty No. 2026-13) issued on May 8, 2026, the company had already begun fabricating data during its IPO application phase. In 2021, the company inflated profits by 10.6549 million yuan through intentional under-provisioning of inventory write-downs and false chip sales, accounting for 21.72% of the disclosed profit in the IPO prospectus. This means the company entered the market with watered-down financials, while the lead underwriter and auditor failed to detect the irregularities, essentially turning a blind eye.
The misconduct did not stop after the listing. If the IPO phase were the only instance of fraud, the case might not have been so shocking. What truly shook the market was the systematic financial statement beautification that continued post-listing. The penalty notice determined that in 2022, the company inflated total profits by 45.4021 million yuan through under-provisioning inventory write-downs, under-provisioning accounts receivable impairment losses, and false sales of display modules, representing 104.58% of the disclosed profit for that year. Excluding the inflated portion, the company's actual operations in 2022 were loss-making. In the first half of 2023, it repeated the pattern, inflating profits by 47.536 million yuan, accounting for 145.10% of the absolute value of the disclosed profit for that period. A company that relied on fraud to maintain "profitability" was still trading on the STAR Market. Additionally, in 2023, the company failed to timely disclose the payment of 44.4199 million yuan in export tax refunds, which represented 79.74% of the audited net profit for 2022. On October 31, 2025, the CSRC officially launched an investigation. On February 4, 2026, the CSRC further froze three securities accounts and seven bank accounts, all of which were fundraising special accounts, with a total frozen amount of 134 million yuan. The company faces a proposed fine of 173 million yuan, with actual controller Gao Yudi fined 10.5 million yuan, and multiple executives facing penalties and securities market bans. Guangfa Securities, as the IPO lead underwriter, and Lixin Certified Public Accountants, as the auditor, along with actual controller Gao Yudi, plan to jointly establish a compensation fund to cover losses for eligible investors, indicating the role of intermediaries in the affair.
Alongside the financial fraud, the company's fundamentals have been steadily deteriorating. In 2025, the company reported full-year revenue of 669 million yuan, down 11.16% year-on-year, with a net loss attributable to shareholders of 98.84 million yuan, widening the loss. The core revenue source, electronic paper module business, generated 423 million yuan, down 19.76% year-on-year. In the first quarter of 2026, revenue was 140 million yuan, down 18.57% year-on-year, with a loss of 32.45 million yuan, showing no signs of recovery. The largest shareholder, Kunshan Hegao Information Technology Co., Ltd., holds 37.91% of shares, with actual controller and chairman Gao Yudi. The second-largest shareholder, FAITH CROWN INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, holds 19.46%, and the third-largest, CROWN CAPITAL HOLDINGS LIMITED, holds 8.62%. As of the announcement date, the top ten shareholders' holdings remained unchanged. The number of shareholders is still high at 7,539, with an average holding of about 59,700 shares per person. The erosion of operational performance and external trust has led to rapid capital outflows. On July 7, the stock price fell below 1 yuan for the first time. Despite a brief rebound on August 13, when it hit the daily limit up to 1.04 yuan, it failed to hold, closing at 0.92 yuan on August 14. From July 8 to August 14, the company has issued over a dozen delisting risk warnings.
July 2026 marks the peak of A-share delistings. Since the beginning of 2026, the pace of delistings has accelerated significantly. As of early August, 21 companies have been delisted for the year, with at least four others facing mandatory delisting for major violations due to suspected fraudulent issuance or financial fraud. On the same STAR Market, delisted Guandian (688287) was officially delisted on June 10, having been the first company to transfer from the Beijing Stock Exchange to the STAR Market, completing its A-share journey due to persistent negative net profit and audit opinions with reservations and negative statements. *ST Zhuoran (688121) is also on the brink of mandatory delisting for major violations due to suspected false records in annual reports and audit opinions with disclaimers. The revised STAR Market listing rules in April 2026 have further tightened delisting standards, adding quantitative indicators for major financial fraud, strengthening cross-application of financial delisting triggers, introducing new scenarios where most directors cannot guarantee the authenticity of annual reports, and enforcing stricter trading-related delisting rules. This combination of measures signals that the value of shells is accelerating toward zero, making the cost of "listing with illness" much higher.
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