Internal sources at China Vanke Co., Ltd. have disclosed the dissolution of its office business division, marking another significant step in the company's ongoing organizational restructuring. This move reduces the number of business units from eight to seven, and the company's official website has already been updated, though Vanke has not issued a formal statement on the matter.
According to informed individuals, following the dissolution of the office division, its projects have been integrated into various city-level companies. The unit's head, Lu Bing, has been reassigned to lead AVIC Vanke, while some employees have been transferred to city-level operations and others have accepted severance packages under the company's optimization plan.
The disbanding of the office division is seen as a hallmark of Vanke's deep organizational overhaul in recent years. The once-celebrated professional-manager culture is giving way to a new cycle dominated by state-owned capital, as the company's governance structure undergoes a profound transformation.
Accompanying this structural shift is a broad wave of personnel cuts. On social media, many Vanke employees have posted about their "graduation" from the company. A former employee revealed that due to shrinking headcounts, departments have been given layoff targets, with compensation packages set at N+1. At its peak, their department had dozens of staff, but after multiple rounds of layoffs, only about ten remained.
Property development has been the hardest-hit area for layoffs. Financial data shows that from the end of 2020 to the end of 2025, Vanke's property development system reduced its workforce from 19,649 to 7,181, a cumulative reduction of over 10,000 employees in five years.
The personnel cuts are paralleled by a persistent financial shortfall. In its earnings forecast, Vanke indicated it expects to incur additional losses of 12 billion to 15 billion yuan in the first half of 2026. With layoffs, leadership changes, massive losses, and debt extensions, Vanke's struggle to survive is far from over.
Property Development Business Slims Down, Cutting Over 10,000 in Five Years
Recently, several Vanke employees have posted departure notices on social media, including some who had been with the company for over a decade. One former employee said that due to headcount reductions, their department had layoff targets with N+1 compensation. Many current staff worry that as the company's cash tightens, it will become harder to negotiate severance. "If you're transferred to a position you don't want, forcing you to resign, it's better to be let go early and start thinking about your next move," one employee commented.
The layoffs have affected numerous departments, including finance, marketing, and customer service. According to the former employee, their department once had dozens of people, but after multiple rounds of layoffs, only about ten remained at the time of their departure, with possibly only single digits left afterward. Higher-paid employees were likely to be let go first.
Another former employee expressed regret over the co-investment program. "I borrowed about 1 million yuan through credit loans to participate in the co-investment. Not only did I not get my principal back, but I've also paid hundreds of thousands in interest. If I hadn't followed the crowd, my financial situation might be more comfortable now."
Vanke has been steadily reducing its workforce in recent years, with significant changes in both total numbers and structure. Financial reports show that as of the end of 2025, Vanke had 131,429 registered employees, a slight increase of 2.97% from 127,638 at the end of 2024. While the overall headcount hasn't dropped, internal structures have diverged sharply: the property development business saw a net reduction of 2,228 employees, while property services added 6,304, reaching 108,745.
Over a longer period, the contraction in development operations is more stark. From the end of 2020 to the end of 2025, Vanke's property development workforce fell from 19,649 to 7,181, a cumulative decrease of 12,468 people, or 63.45%.
The direct catalyst for this restructuring was a major organizational overhaul implemented in September 2025, which abolished all five regional companies (Beijing, East China, Central China, South China, and Southwest) as well as the development operations headquarters. This marked the end of the "group-region-city" three-tier management model that had been in place for nearly 20 years.
In its 2025 financial report, Vanke stated that the management structure for its development business was simplified from a "three-and-a-half-level" system to a two-tier "group headquarters-regional company" model. The 38 regional and city companies were consolidated into 16 regional companies, shortening the management chain. The original nine business units were reduced to eight, while the headquarters departments expanded from seven to 13, strengthening central control.
In 2026, Vanke deepened its restructuring. The most symbolic move was the complete abolition of the partner system introduced in 2014. All partner titles were removed from the company's website and internal systems, with everyone returning to traditional titles like general manager and director. At the same time, Vanke formally dissolved the office business division, further reducing the number of business units to seven. This unit, established in October 2024 and originally under the development operations headquarters, focused on improving the efficiency of office asset management.
The adjustment of the office division aligns with Vanke's current strategic priorities. At a recent shareholder meeting, Vanke management stated that optimizing asset structure and quality is a key task for the next phase. The company has also initiated a city-focused strategy, gradually concentrating resources on core urban areas.
Three Leadership Changes in Two Years Mark the End of an Era for Professional Managers
The latest round of layoffs coincides with Vanke's board of directors' election, which also signals the end of the company's decades-long professional manager era. In the 2023 board election, representatives from Shenzhen Metro and Vanke's professional managers each held three seats. However, after the election on July 31, former professional managers fully exited Vanke's board. All six non-independent directors—Huang Liping, Huang Yu, Lei Jiangsong, Xu Enli, Yao Fei, and Zhu Zhiqiang—now come from the Shenzhen state-owned assets system.
Huang Liping stepped down as chairman, replaced by Xu Enli, while President Huang Yu was reappointed. Xu Enli, with a background in the Shenzhen state-owned assets system, previously served as a party committee member and deputy general manager at Shenzhen Ye Group before being appointed party secretary and chairman of Shenzhen Expressway Group. President Huang Yu previously served as deputy director of the Shenzhen Municipal Financial Committee Office and deputy director of the Municipal Local Financial Supervision Bureau, with long experience in Shenzhen's state-owned assets and financial regulatory systems.
This board election is a microcosm of the dramatic changes in Vanke's top management over the past two years. In January 2025, Yu Liang resigned as Vanke's board chairman, succeeded by Shenzhen Metro Chairman Xin Jie. In October 2025, Xin Jie resigned, and Huang Liping took over. In January 2026, Yu Liang, due to reaching retirement age, fully exited Vanke. From Xin Jie to Huang Liping to Xu Enli, Vanke has completed three chairman changes in less than two years.
During the "Baoneng-Vanke battle," Vanke brought in Shenzhen Metro as a "white knight" to resolve its control crisis. Since then, as the largest shareholder, Shenzhen Metro has long acted as a financial investor, not deeply intervening in Vanke's daily operations. However, as the industry adjusted and the company faced operating pressure and liquidity risks, Shenzhen Metro gradually stepped in, ultimately forming a new landscape dominated by Shenzhen state-owned capital.
One investor noted that at recent shareholder meetings and earnings calls, the only remaining "old Vanke person" from the former executive team was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Han Huihua. Yan Yuejin, deputy director of the Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute, commented that Vanke's new team still faces the dual pressures of preserving cash flow and promoting transformation. "State-owned dominance can enhance credit backing, but there's also a risk of weakening market-oriented decision-making efficiency. The key going forward will be whether the company can use financial tools like REITs to convert existing assets into liquidity and achieve a true lighter balance sheet."
Persistent Losses, Shrinking Sales, and Heavy Debt Pressure
Behind the dramatic management changes lies Vanke's unresolved operational crisis. In 2025, Vanke reported revenue of 233.43 billion yuan, down 32% year-on-year. Its net loss attributable to shareholders reached 88.556 billion yuan, a 78.98% increase in losses. Contracted sales fell to 134.06 billion yuan, a 45.5% decline.
In its annual report's "Letter to Shareholders," Vanke management acknowledged that due to multiple compounding factors, 2025's operating results fell far short of expectations. They noted that resolving the burdens and issues from the previous high-debt, high-turnover, and high-leverage development model would take time.
In the first quarter of 2026, Vanke's losses continued. Revenue was 28.93 billion yuan, down 23.9% year-on-year, with a net loss attributable to shareholders of 5.95 billion yuan. A first-half performance forecast predicts a net loss attributable to shareholders of 12 billion to 15 billion yuan, with a non-recurring net loss of 11 billion to 14 billion yuan.
For the core reasons behind the ongoing losses, Vanke stated in its announcement that the settlement scale of property development projects has dropped significantly, with gross margins remaining low. Combined with changes in the industry, market, and operating environment, the company has added asset impairment provisions. Under cost accounting, after deducting depreciation and amortization, some operational businesses and non-core financial investments have incurred losses.
At the shareholder meeting, Vanke management set "loss control and loss reduction" as its 2026 operating goal. For Vanke, debt issues are even more pressing. As of the end of 2025, Vanke's total interest-bearing debt was 358.48 billion yuan, with 160.56 billion yuan due within one year, accounting for 44.8%. Its cash and cash equivalents were only 67.24 billion yuan, creating a significant gap. The net debt ratio rose to 123.5%, an increase of 42.9 percentage points from the end of 2024.
Since the start of the year, Vanke has been active in debt extensions. In the first half of 2026, 10 public bonds successfully received extensions. However, the peak of debt repayments is far from over. In the second half of 2026, Vanke still has 10.12 billion yuan in maturing public bonds, maintaining significant repayment pressure. More critically, starting in December 2026, previously extended bonds will begin to enter repayment periods again.
Shenzhen Metro plays a crucial role in providing financial support. Since the beginning of 2026, Shenzhen Metro has provided liquidity support to Vanke five times, totaling approximately 4.528 billion yuan. According to the 2025 financial report, as of March 31, Shenzhen Metro had provided a cumulative total of 33.52 billion yuan in shareholder loans to Vanke.
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