Trust equity transfers face a cooling trend, with some small and medium shareholders accelerating their exit

This article is sourced from Economic Information Daily.

□Reporter Zhong Yuan

Small and mid-sized shareholders of trust companies are accelerating their “clearing out” and exit. Recently, according to information from the Beijing Equity Exchange, 0.826% equity in China Railway Trust Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as “China Railway Trust”) has been publicly listed for transfer. The transfer reserve price is RMB 90.5016 million. The transferor is Pansteel Group Chengdu Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. The listing dates for this transfer are from December 29, 2025, to April 3, 2026.

This is not the first time this portion of equity has been publicly listed for transfer. On November 23, 2025, according to information from the National Property Rights Industry Informatization Integrated Service Platform, China Railway Trust’s 0.826% equity had previously been listed for transfer with a reserve price of RMB 100.55724 million. The transferor was also Pansteel Group Chengdu Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., and the information disclosure end date was December 19, 2025. Compared with the listing at the end of last year, the current listed transfer price is equivalent to a 10% discount.

Public information shows that Pansteel Group Chengdu Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. was established on May 22, 2002. Its legal representative is Zhang Hu. Registered capital is RMB 1.61 billion. Its business scope includes the sales of metal products, the sales of non-metal minerals and products, repairs of metal products, and more. The company is held 82.23% by Pansteel Group Chengdu Pancheng Steel Co., Ltd., and 16.77% by Chengdu Industrial Investment Group Co., Ltd.

Yuyixin Trust researcher Shu Guoren said that the desire of small and mid-sized shareholders of trust companies to exit may have three reasons: first, the shareholders themselves are adjusting strategy, needing to optimize their capital layout and focus on their core business; second, the trust industry is in a deep transformation period, and many trust companies’ operating performance has declined significantly, which does not meet their strategic investment requirements; third, regarding specific matters of trust companies, some small and mid-sized shareholders have relatively weak say in decision-making and cannot participate more deeply in operations.

According to information on China Railway Trust’s official website, the company was established in December 2002. It is a non-bank financial institution approved by the former China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, with financial trust as its main business. Registered capital is RMB 5 billion, and its comprehensive managed asset scale exceeds RMB 600 billion. Currently, the company has 16 shareholders, with an equity structure in a diversified form in which central state-owned enterprises hold controlling stakes, local state-owned enterprises and private enterprises hold stakes as well. Among them, China Railway Group Limited is the company’s major shareholder, holding 78.91%. Pansteel Group Chengdu Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. is the 10th largest shareholder of China Railway Trust, holding 0.826%.

“In other words, Pansteel Group Chengdu Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. is liquidating all the equity it holds in China Railway Trust in this transaction.” A market observer said.

In fact, besides China Railway Trust, in recent times shares of multiple other trust companies have also been listed for transfer with discounts. The reporter checked data from the Beijing and Shanghai Equity Exchanges and found that previously, equity in multiple trust companies such as New Era Trust, China Credit Trust, Western Trust, and China Ocean Trust had all been looking for buyers. However, some trust companies’ equity assets do not have much market heat; in some cases they have even faced awkward situations involving multiple rounds of transfer and delays and price reductions. Among them, equity in New Era Trust and Western Trust had been listed for transfer four times in succession.

“Compared with the feverish market in earlier years, in recent years, demand for trust companies’ equity has cooled noticeably. However, the value of trust companies’ equity ultimately depends on both the value of the license and the company’s operating condition.” A trust-industry analyst in Beijing said. In an environment of strict regulation over large asset management, the value of trust companies’ equity has declined to some extent, but trust companies still have unique advantages in cross-market operation—especially those whose trust asset operations are stable, whose earlier operations are sound, and whose potential non-performing projects are transparent and controllable. For such trust companies, their equity remains attractive.

“Cooling off in the trust equity transfer market is the norm. Under current market conditions, the share prices of many listed financial institutions have already fallen below net asset value.” Yu Zhi, a researcher at the Yuyixin Finance & Trust Research Institute, said that at present the trust industry is in a critical period of business transformation, and the operations of most trust companies are affected, with significant performance pressure. On top of that, industry stock risks continue to be exposed, so the overall valuation of trust companies’ equity has declined, which has a greater impact on the value of the equity held by small and mid-sized shareholders. In the short term, this trend may be difficult to reverse, and the practice of small and mid-sized shareholders transferring their equity may continue.