On January 25, Shanghai Milkground Food Tech Co.,Ltd. (Milkground) announced that on January 23, 2026, Chai Xiu was removed from her positions as Vice Chairwoman, General Manager, and Legal Representative, while Kuai Yulong stepped down as Administrative General Manager due to work arrangements. On the same day, the board of directors appointed Kuai Yulong as the new General Manager and changed the Legal Representative to him, with the term lasting until the expiration of the 12th board of directors.
It is noteworthy that the reason for Chai Xiu's departure was not the commonly seen voluntary resignation but a "removal," and she also has unfulfilled public commitments.
While it is common for listed company founders to step down, being removed from their posts is relatively rare.
In the announcement, Milkground still expressed gratitude to Chai Xiu, stating, "The company's board of directors extends its sincere thanks to Ms. Chai Xiu for her contributions to the company's development!"
Information shows that Chai Xiu is the founder of Milkground and previously served as President of Guangze Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd., and CEO of Guangze International Development Limited, among other roles. Her annual salary for 2024 was 4.8663 million yuan.
Milkground Initiates Arbitration Against Chai Xiu Milkground also disclosed another announcement on the same day, filing an arbitration application against Chai Xiu concerning matters related to an investment in a merger and acquisition fund. Her removal is likely directly related to this.
According to the announcement, this was due to Jilin Yaohe Trading Co., Ltd. (Jilin Yaohe), guaranteed by the company's invested Shanghai Xiangmin Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) (referred to as the "M&A Fund") and its subordinate entities, failing to repay its overdue debt to Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy (Group) Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Inner Mongolia Mengniu" or the "Creditor," the company's controlling shareholder).
Inner Mongolia Mengniu has already initiated arbitration proceedings domestically against Jilin Yaohe and related parties, and receivership procedures for the M&A Fund's underlying overseas assets have also commenced. The Beijing Arbitration Commission has issued an arbitral award in the case, ruling that Jilin Yaohe must repay the loan principal, interest, and other amounts to the creditor.
The creditor's rights held by Inner Mongolia Mengniu enjoy priority in compensation from the proceeds obtained after the auction or sale of the 99.99% equity in Changchun Lianxin Investment Consulting Co., Ltd. (Changchun Lianxin) held by the M&A Fund, and the 90% equity in Jilin Zhiran Dairy Technology Co., Ltd. (Jilin Zhiran) held by Changchun Lianxin. Inner Mongolia Mengniu will subsequently, based on the enforcement status of this arbitration case and the implementation of the receivership procedures,酌情 apply for compulsory enforcement as appropriate by law, including but not limited to potentially initiating auction or sale procedures for the collateral, such as the 99.99% equity in Changchun Lianxin held by Xiangmin Fund and the 90% equity in Jilin Zhiran held by Changchun Lianxin, to achieve debt repayment.
It is understood that Chai Xiu had previously issued an "Explanation Regarding Matters Related to the M&A Fund" and committed that: Should the company face direct or indirect losses due to the aforementioned guarantee provided by the M&A Fund (including but not limited to being unable to fully and timely recover its capital contribution and due returns from the M&A Fund within the time limit stipulated in the partnership agreement), she personally committed to fully compensating the company and ensuring that the company would not incur losses due to the guarantee matters.
However, as of the announcement date, Chai Xiu had not yet fulfilled the aforementioned commitment for full compensation and had not provided a clear plan or expectation for fulfilling this commitment.
Milkground stated that since January 2025, the company's board of directors, the board's fund working group, the chairman, and some senior managers have repeatedly urged the promisor, Chai Xiu, to fulfill the commitments related to the fund matters through oral communication and written correspondence.
Against the backdrop of the aforementioned commitments remaining unfulfilled, and to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the company and all shareholders and recover the company's investment principal and corresponding returns in the M&A Fund, in accordance with the board's resolution urging the promisor to fulfill the relevant commitments and authorizing management to initiate relevant legal recourse procedures, the company formally initiated arbitration proceedings. It filed an arbitration application with the Shanghai International Arbitration Center regarding Chai Xiu's commitment and recently received a "Notice of Acceptance."
As of the announcement date, the arbitration application is at the stage of having received the notice of acceptance and has not yet been heard. The subsequent outcome of the proceedings is uncertain, and its impact on the company's net profit is also uncertain. The company will conduct corresponding accounting treatments based on the requirements of relevant accounting standards and the actual situation and will timely fulfill its information disclosure obligations as required by regulations.
Milkground indicated that the other non-current financial assets formed by the company's capital contribution to the M&A Fund are expected to incur fair value change losses, which are anticipated to have a significant impact on the company's net profit.
The company plans to fully recognize a fair value change loss on the other non-current financial assets formed by its capital contribution to the M&A Fund, with a carrying value of 129 million yuan as of December 31, 2024.
Furthermore, the equity value of Jilin Zhiran, the underlying asset of the M&A Fund, is currently being appraised. According to preliminary results from the appraisal report, the carrying value of the other non-current financial assets formed by the 10% equity investment in Jilin Zhiran as of December 31, 2025, is estimated to be between 45 million yuan and 55 million yuan. Compared to the audited carrying value of 85.0901 million yuan as of December 31, 2024, for the other non-current financial assets formed by the company's 10% equity investment in Jilin Zhiran, the company plans to recognize a fair value change loss of 30.0901 million yuan to 40.0901 million yuan.
Milkground revealed that, considering factors such as income tax, the aforementioned planned recognition of fair value change losses is expected to reduce the company's 2025 net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company by 119 million yuan to 127 million yuan.
As of September 30, 2025, the company's unaudited net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 176 million yuan. The aforementioned planned recognition of fair value change losses is not expected to cause the company's 2025 net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company to turn from positive to negative.
Led Milkground to Become the "A-Share Cheese Pioneer" Mengniu-affiliated Executive Takes Over According to Red Star Capital Bureau, Chai Xiu, born in 1965, holds a master's degree and previously served as President of Guangze Investment Holding Group and CEO of Guangze International, among other positions. In October 2015, Chai Xiu was elected as a director and chairwoman until September 2021; in September 2021, she assumed the role of General Manager and served as Vice Chairwoman until now.
Milkground was built by Chai Xiu herself. With years of experience in the dairy industry, she has a keen sense for business opportunities and a deep understanding of capital operations. In 2016, through a backdoor listing, the company she led, Milkground, became the "first A-share cheese stock." After Mengniu took control, Milkground's stock price once reached 84.5 yuan per share.
Wind data shows that Chai Xiu remains the company's second-largest shareholder, with a latest holding of 14.92%; the largest shareholder, Mengniu Dairy, holds approximately 37% and is also the controlling shareholder.
Resume information shows that Kuai Yulong previously held positions including Assistant Vice President of China Mengniu Dairy Company Limited, Head of the Group Finance Department, Senior Director of Financial Operations, General Manager of the Group SAP Project, General Manager of the Ambient Business Unit Financial Management Center兼 Head of the Strategy Management Department, and Administrative General Manager of the company.
Kuai Yulong served as the company's Chief Financial Officer and was elected as a director in September 2021; he assumed the role of Administrative General Manager in January 2025. Upon taking over as General Manager, he concurrently stepped down from the position of Administrative General Manager.
In 2024, as a director and Chief Financial Officer, Kuai Yulong's compensation was 3.25 million yuan.
Milkground's main business is cheese sticks. After two consecutive years of revenue decline, performance recovered in 2025, with revenue for the first three quarters reaching 3.96 billion yuan, a 10% increase, and a net profit of 176 million yuan, exceeding the 114 million yuan for the full year of 2024.
In the secondary market, as of the time of writing, Milkground's stock price fell by 2.69% to 23.11 yuan, with a total market capitalization of 11.8 billion yuan.
