Chang Zhenming (Chairman), Jiong Wang (Vice Chairman, President, Member of Executive Committee and Member of Nomination Committee), Jianzhong Dou (Executive Director and Member of Executive Committee), Wei Min Ju (Chief Financial Officer)
CITIC Group was founded as the China International Trust Investment Corporation (Chinese: 中国国际信托投资公司; abb. CITIC), a Chinese state-owned enterprise in 1979. In the 1980s, Chinese government founded many for profit corporations, which CITIC was under the leadership of Rong Yiren, a former businessman and politician at that time, who chose to stay in the mainland China in the 1950s after his family business was nationalized.[8] His son, Larry Yung,[nb 1] was the former chairman of CITIC Group's listed subsidiary CITIC Pacific. Larry also led the Hong Kong office and parent company of CITIC Pacific since 1986; Larry became a Hong Kong-based businessman since 1978.[8] Throughout the 1980s, Xiong Xianghui served as CITIC vice chair and significant CITIC leadership was drawn from the Intelligence Bureau of the Joint Staff Department.[9]
CITIC Group headquarters was based in Beijing; Hong Kong office was formally opened in 1985.[8] The Mainland-based CITIC Bank was founded by the group in 1984.[8] The group also acquired 12.5% stake of the Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific in 1987,[8] and became a member of a shareholders' agreement in 2006;[10] the stake was sold to fellow state-owned company Air China in 2009.[11] The group also acquired Hong Kong-based Ka Wah Bank in 1986.[8] In 1990, the group also absorbed some of the subsidiaries of another state-owned company, 中国康华发展总公司.[12] Other notable acquisitions included 38.3% stake of another airline Dragonair, 20% stake of Hong Kong Telecom, etc.[8]
Beginning in 2008, CITIC Group had the lead role in developing Quilamba in Angola as part of an exchange of Chinese construction materials and expertise for Angolan natural resources.[13]: 125
Its subsidiary, CITIC Pacific (Chinese: 中信泰富, now known as CITIC Limited), made unauthorized bets on the foreign currency market in October 2008 and lost HK$14.7 billion (US$1.9 billion, when accounted for in mark-to-market terms). Senior executives such as Financial Controller Chau Chi-Yin and Group Finance Director Leslie Chang resigned.[14][15][16] Its stock price plunged 55.1 percent upon the resumption of trade.[17]
In 2015, CITIC Group sold 10% stake of CITIC Limited to a joint-venture of Itochu and Charoen Pokphand for HK$34.4 billion (US$4.54 billion); the joint venture also subscribed new convertible preferred shares for HK$45.9 billion (or US$5.9 billion).[18] It was reported it was the largest investment ever made by a Japanese general trading company.[19] The transaction is also the largest acquisition in China by a Japanese company, and the largest investment by foreigners in a Chinese state-owned enterprise.[20]
In 2023, China Huarong Asset Management, the company that manages the troubled assets, contracted to buy 5.01 percent of Citic Limited for HK$13.6 billion (US$1.7 billion). Huarong will acquire a stake from CITIC Group’s subsidiary, Citic Polaris. In addition, Huarong plans to change the name to China Citic Financial Asset Management. The deal is a return on the investment that CITIC invested in 2021, leading the rescue of Huarong.[21][22]
In November 2016, CITIC CLSA acted as the sole bookrunner for CEFC Shanghai's US$250 bond issuance. CITIC CLSA hid from the market that the bond deal was only 60% subscribed at pricing. It manipulated the bond price in the secondary market in an effort to offload the 100mm USD bond CITIC CLSA held on its balance sheet.[23]
In May 2018, CITIC Group announced they would repay ca 450 million euros owed by CEFC Europe to finance and banking group J&T within days but since the debt was not paid a week later, J&T announced it had taken over shareholder rights and installed crisis management at CEFC Europe.[24][25] Several days later, CEFC Shanghai defaulted on $327 million in bond payments, and offered to make the payments six months after the maturity date.[26]
In October 2020, some retail CEFC bondholders in Hong Kong filed a complaint to the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong against the bond's sole underwriter CITIC CLSA.[23]
^ abcdefg郭國燦 [Guócàn, Guō] (October 2009).『Róng Yìrén yǔ Zhōngxìn de dànshēng』榮毅仁與中信的誕生. Xiānggǎng zhōngzī Cáituán 香港中資財團 (in Traditional Chinese) (1 ed.). Hong Kong: Joint Publishing (Sino United Publishing). pp. 71–81. ISBN978-962-04-2886-9.
^國泰「反狙擊」協議全面曝光 主席需太古提名 非國泰推薦國航禁售股權. Ming Pao (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Hong Kong: Media Chinese International. 3 January 2018. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
^中信掟國泰套73億. Oriental Daily News (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Hong Kong: Oriental Press Group. 18 August 2009. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
^ 国务院办公厅转发中国康华发展总公司关于所属子公司撤并转方案请示的通知. 国办发 (in Chinese (China)). 1990 (5). Beijing: General Office of the State Council. 7 February 1990.