He Xiangjian: founder and actual controller of Midea Group

analysisHe Xiangjian is the founder named in Midea Group's H-share prospectus: in 1968 he led a group of Beijiao residents in setting up a township enterprise making plastic and metal products, which the prospectus calls the group's predecessor; he later led Midea Electric through a shareholding reform in 1992 and to its Shenzhen listing in 1993. On 4 January 2001 the Midea trade union committee signed contracts transferring an aggregate 22.85% of the company, then a limited liability company, to He and four other individuals. In a commitment dated 28 March 2013 Midea Holding and He undertook to bear any loss to Midea Group arising from a dispute over that transfer, and on 28 June 2013 the Beijiao Town Federation of Trade Unions, the committee's superior body, confirmed that the committee's council had been entitled to dispose of its property without the unanimous consent of all employee members; Midea's 2025 annual report states that the transfer has caused no dispute or loss. ^{1 2 3 4}

analysisAccording to the prospectus, the company was incorporated on 7 April 2000 as Shunde Meituo Investment Co., Ltd., and He became its controlling shareholder after several rounds of share transfers and capital injections that took its registered capital to RMB 100 million; in October 2002 he transferred all his equity interest in it to Midea Holding, of which he is the controlling shareholder and ultimate beneficial owner. A commercial company-data service's profile, which cites no source, states that he stepped down as chairman of Midea Group on 26 August 2012 and describes him as chairman of Midea Holding and honorary chairman of the Guangdong Hede Charity Foundation. The official record agrees with the profile on the 1968 origin and the 1980 start of fan production, both in the prospectus, and on the August 2012 handover: the 2013 merger report summary states that Fang Hongbo succeeded him as chairman that month. The exact day of 26 August 2012 appears only in the profile; Midea's 2025 annual report dates Fang Hongbo's current term as chairman and president from 25 August 2012. ^{1 5 6 4 7}

analysisMidea's 2025 annual report names He Xiangjian as actual controller and Midea Holding Co., Ltd. as controlling shareholder, gives his principal occupation as chairman of Midea Holding and records no change in either during 2025; the 2026 interim report records none in the first half of 2026. The report's chart shows He holding 94.55% of Midea Holding, Midea Holding 28.55% of Midea Group and He 0.42% directly, and states that he does not control the company through a trust or other asset-management arrangement. Midea's announcement of 7 May 2026 on a convertible-bond issue shows him holding 31,909,643 A shares (0.42%) directly. Lu Deyan, described in Midea's filings as his daughter-in-law, holds the rest of Midea Holding; the prospectus states that they are not parties acting in concert in respect of their interests in Midea Holding. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

analysisThe September 2024 prospectus describes Midea Holding as an investment holding company incorporated on 5 August 2002 and states that, besides Midea Group, Midea Holding and He also control companies in investment management, property management, hotel management, hospital management, healthcare management services and arts and culture, and that neither holds an interest in a business competing with the group that would require disclosure under Rule 8.10 of the Hong Kong Listing Rules. On 28 March 2013 they gave non-competition and independence undertakings, which the 2025 annual report lists as long-term undertakings with no breach. Listings of a commercial company-data service show He as executive director and legal representative of Midea Holding, a title that differs from the chairmanship given in Midea's 2025 annual report, and as chairman and legal representative of Foshan Shunde Midea Development Co., Ltd.; the listings give no appointment dates, and no filing in the record confirms these entries. ^{6 4 1 7 8}

analysisMidea's 2025 annual report lists the listed companies in China and abroad that He Xiangjian has controlled in the past ten years: Midea Group, Hiconics, Wandong Medical, CLOU Electronics and Midea Real Estate, and the since-delisted KUKA (2022), Little Swan (2019) and Welling Holding (2018); Midea's 2020 annual report already listed Hiconics in that category. According to a media report, Midea Group bought control of Wandong Medical in 2021, and media summaries of CLOU announcements state that Midea Group became CLOU's controlling shareholder with 22.79% on 2 June 2023, with He Xiangjian as actual controller; Midea's 2025 annual results describe CLOU as acquired in 2023. ^{1 2 3 4 5 6}

analysisA media report and a commercial data-service profile describe He Jianfeng as He Xiangjian's son; no Midea or Midea Real Estate filing in the inspected record states the relationship. A media report of December 2025 stated that at an analyst meeting in May 2025 Fang Hongbo said six or seven people could already succeed him at any time but that he could not name them and had not yet told the major shareholder; none of the filings reviewed designates a successor. ^{7 8 9 1}