Henan Daily: Fluorochemicals "Handing Over": A 20-Year Intergenerational Legacy

（Source: 多氟多）

In March, spring rain fell and scattered across the glass curtain wall of the Multi-Fold Technology Building. Li Shijiang, the 76-year-old founder of Multi-Fold New Material Co., Ltd., looked relaxed. With the handover of corporate management taking place for two months, Multi-Fold was operating calmly and normally.

“My greatest pride in my life is, first, that I founded Multi-Fold, and second, that even now, people are still willing to carry on the company’s事业.” His tone carried a profound sense of satisfaction.

Not long ago, Li Shijiang formally stepped down as chairman of Multi-Fold, the listed company, and his son Li Yunfeng took over. This global leader in the inorganic fluorine materials industry, with a market value of RMB 31.6 billion, completed the leadership transition at a time when performance had turned from loss to profit and growth remained steady.

Li Shijiang did not fully retire. He would continue to serve as the Party committee secretary and chairman of the Multi-Fold Group, safeguarding the company he founded in another way.

Against the backdrop that private enterprises in China are generally facing challenges in intergenerational succession, the leadership reshuffle at Multi-Fold appears especially steady and well-ordered. In fact, this low-risk succession case—rare among Chinese family businesses—stems from a long-term strategic layout spanning decades.

【A 20-Year Game: A Succession Path Carefully Laid Out】

On the evening of December 29, 2025, a succession announcement from Multi-Fold declared the arrival of a “post–Li Shijiang” era.

The timing could not have been better—right at the moment when second-generation succession was underway, Multi-Fold’s performance was also beginning to “warm up.”

Financial data shows that in 2024, Multi-Fold’s full-year net loss was RMB 308 million. According to the company’s 2025 performance forecast, however, it is expected to achieve net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 200 million to RMB 280 million for the year, turning from loss to profit year over year.

After getting through a difficult period and passing through the cycle, taking the initiative to hand over the reins—the “turnaround” behind this clever arrangement—reflects Li Shijiang’s dual wisdom as both an entrepreneur and a father: an outstanding set of results not only stabilized market confidence and the company’s expectations, but also cleared the way for his son Li Yunfeng.

The share price trend of Multi-Fold powerfully proves this: from the beginning of 2025 to now, the cumulative increase in the stock price has already far exceeded 100%.

Looking further ahead, Li Shijiang’s planning for his successor began earlier than many in the industry believed.

In 2002, when Li Yunfeng was 22 and just graduated from college, his father called him back to “help out.”

In 2006, with Li Shijiang’s support, Li Yunfeng took the initiative to volunteer, led the team to work on the development of lithium hexafluorophosphate, and after eight years of hard work, achieved large-scale production of lithium hexafluorophosphate in 2014, successfully breaking Japan-based companies’ long-standing monopoly of more than 20 years.

In 2010, Multi-Fold New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. was formally established. Li Yunfeng served as the person in charge, leading the team to carve out a path of upgrading—“fluorite to high-purity hydrofluoric acid to lithium fluoride to lithium hexafluorophosphate to lithium batteries.”

It can be said that throughout Multi-Fold’s growth process, Li Yunfeng’s presence can be seen. Experience across multiple key roles not only shaped his ability to make independent decisions, but also earned him internal recognition.

Like Li Yunfeng, his sister Li Lingyun, who grew up from the grassroots, also entered the core management team of Multi-Fold by 2017, according to publicly available information.

It was at this stage that Li Shijiang began to think carefully about choosing a successor.

“Eight years ago, at a high-level forum, a scholar’s viewpoint awakened me. On March 16, sitting in the spacious office at the Multi-Fold Technology Building, Li Shijiang recalled: the scholar divided the transmission of Chinese enterprises into three parts—bloodline, wealth, and事业 transmission. For me, harmony within the family means the first two are not an issue, and the initiative for the third is also in my own hands. Choosing the right person who can truly run the事业 is the key.”

In 2020, the succession plan gradually became clearer. Li Yunfeng served as general manager of the listed company, becoming a “targeted talent cultivated in a directed way.” Li Shijiang placed full trust in him: “To build a事业, the prerequisite is to invest effort and love what you do. He has that mindset.”

It is worth noting that in 2019, when Multi-Fold’s overall performance turned from profit to loss, the new energy segment overseen by Li Yunfeng still achieved year-on-year growth of 97% in sales volume and output value, and a 74% year-on-year increase in sales revenue, becoming one of the few highlights of the company’s performance that year.

Last year, after the handover moved into a substantive stage, Li Shijiang launched a “two-pronged” strategy.

On the mental and ideological level, he recommended professional mentors for his son, ensuring that he fully understood the essence of succession. He also convened family meetings, meetings of mid-level management, and a company-wide meeting to unify thinking, so that family succession and cultural inheritance would become a shared corporate consensus, laying a solid foundation for a smooth handover.

On the power handover level, Li Shijiang advanced it in a gradual and incremental way. For equity arrangements, he directly and indirectly together held 11.92% of Multi-Fold’s shares, making him the actual controller. For management authority, Li Shijiang was responsible for the group’s ideology and culture and family management, retaining decision-making power over major matters; Li Yunfeng led the company’s day-to-day operations. This arrangement not only gave the successor ample room for autonomy, but also reserved a buffer zone for a steady transition—by means of “helping you get started and seeing you through the next step.”

At the end of 2025, after years of incubation, this long-prepared handover was implemented steadily.

A founder who chose to step back without fully retiring, a successor seasoned by hard experience, and performance that kept growing steadily—these are undoubtedly the strongest guarantees for this private enterprise to move forward steadily.

【Two Generations on Relay: Holding Fast and Letting Go Behind a Contract】

At present, in the operation of private enterprises across the country, the transfer of power is shifting from something “hanging in uncertainty” to a common phenomenon.

Reports say that in the past 5 to 10 years, large-scale intergenerational succession among private entrepreneurs in China has already formed a wave of “succession fever.” However, another set of survey data shows that the proportion of Chinese family businesses that successfully pass on to the second generation is less than 40%, and that figure drops to 13% for the third generation.

Analysts believe that succession becomes a life-or-death hurdle that many family businesses cannot cross. Besides the first generation lacking early planning for succession, the second generation also often “is not willing to take over,” which is another major reason.

Being willing to carry the burden is what makes Li Yunfeng different from many “second-generation rich.” He jokingly told his father: “Dad, you’re proud of me, right? With all this hardship and exhaustion, I’m still willing to do it.”

What makes Li Shijiang recognize and endorse him again and again is that Li Yunfeng has his own ideas.

Li Yunfeng positioned himself as a “second-generation entrepreneur.” He “painted a rosy picture” for his father: “During the ‘15th Five-Year’ and ‘25th Five-Year’ periods, the company’s average annual profit will not be less than RMB 1 billion. If we can make it happen, you reward me with some shares. Of course, I will make the market value of the remaining shares you hold higher than it is now.”

His son’s ambition made Li Shijiang very satisfied.

Unexpectedly, Li Yunfeng said again: “The two of us should sign a contract and form a contractual relationship.”

Li Shijiang felt there was no need.

“Now everyone talks about the market economy, so we have to follow these rules. I take over your position not because of blood ties; I’m determined to run this事业 well and set an example.” Li Yunfeng insisted.

When discussing this detail, Li Shijiang did not hide his appreciation: “He uses a contractual relationship to replace bloodline succession. This concept aligns with the trend of social development and civilization progress.”

Father and son hit it off instantly. Earlier this year, at the company’s group gathering event, this contract was made public far and wide.

It sends a signal: successors who are calm and confident and have clear awareness of rules bring more certain value to investors and business partners.

Li Yunfeng’s confidence comes from his own ability and also from his father’s recognition.

In the past few years, Li Yunfeng focused on the new lithium-battery track and global markets. At that time, Li Shijiang felt his strides were too big; before the foundation was solid, he was rushing to move outward. He also reminded him: “Don’t just focus on orders. Technical barriers are the moat.”

“Later, I found that this kid is more daring to ‘do the bigger account’ than I was back then.” Li Shijiang observed that whether in the domestic market or the international market, Li Yunfeng handled everything with ease. With large cylindrical batteries, he literally carved out an opening in a segment and won high recognition from customers. “His international outlook and deep understanding of future industry dynamics have really been refreshing.”

“Our next generation looks at us and always sees one level higher than we look at the next generation—that’s a sign of social progress. Boldly letting go and giving timely guidance is the best way of inheritance.” Li Shijiang said plainly.

But on the other hand, this industry leader, seasoned by years of ups and downs, also has his own坚持.

Born into a military family, Li Shijiang’s sense of family-and-country feelings is deeply engraved in his bones. After steering the company for more than three decades, he has always integrated corporate development into national strategy, breaking international monopolies on several occasions through independent innovation. With over 100 standards, he reshaped the industry landscape, and also injected “red gene” into Multi-Fold.

At the institutional level, Li Shijiang created a new integration model for Party-building and management, writing the Party’s leadership into the company charter. For major corporate decisions and important appointments, input from the Party committee is required, and the company must accept the Party committee’s guidance and oversight.

He has repeatedly said: “What the country needs, we will do.”

With the direction set on ideology, and management letting go, value continuity and wealth appreciation have found their stable landing spot. As Li Yunfeng said at the group gathering event: “This round, we father and son don’t lose—it’s a win-win.”

【Challenges and the Future: One Generation Bears Its Own Responsibility】

After officially taking over as the leader, Li Yunfeng’s burden is not light.

His father, Li Shijiang, starting in the 1990s, with his sense of responsibility for the country and the people, transformed Multi-Fold from a small factory teetering on the brink of closure into a “hidden champion” of global fluorine materials and new energy materials. He gradually built a new materials system covering four major elements: “fluorine, lithium, silicon, and boron.” Output and sales of fluorinated salts have remained #1 globally, and lithium hexafluorophosphate’s share in the global market reached 20%, earning him the reputation of a “materials empire.”

Now, even standing on the shoulders of his father, Li Yunfeng still faces one tough battle after another.

On the international stage, trade frictions keep arising; on the technology front, competition in digitalization, decarbonization, and new energy technology routes is growing increasingly intense; within the industry, although lithium hexafluorophosphate has stepped out of the price war, it still faces multiple risks and challenges.

Faced with these complex conditions, Li Yunfeng remains optimistic. In his view, the generation of entrepreneurs like his father, driven by a refusal to accept fate and a refusal to lose, accomplished frontier-building from “nothing to something.” “We in our generation need to be brave in changing the present, confronting the uncertainties of the future, and pushing the company to make the leap from ‘having something’ to ‘being strong.’”

His optimism is not blind.

Over the past 5 years when he served as general manager, Multi-Fold successfully rode through the cycle and broke multiple “impossibilities”:

In 2025, the sales volume of the core product, lithium hexafluorophosphate, surged significantly year over year, driving a marked growth in gross profit. The new business segments accelerated their ramp-up; the shipment volume of large cylindrical batteries ranked first in the industry, demonstrating strong growth potential. In addition, breakthroughs continued in the innovation arena: electronic-grade hydrofluoric acid entered high-end semiconductor supply chains such as TSMC; boron isotope separation technology was successfully industrialized and entered major national engineering supply chains; sodium-ion batteries and solid-state batteries have been positioned ahead of time, creating a first-mover advantage.

At the start of this year, the first move after Li Yunfeng took over was to propose a strategic matrix of “technological innovation + capacity optimization + industrial chain integration + digital empowerment”:

Relying on national innovation centers, continue to increase R&D investment and break through key technologies such as solid-state batteries and high-end electronic chemical products; continue to promote large-scale development across four major segments—fluorine-based new materials, new energy materials, new energy batteries, and electronic information materials; deepen integration across upstream and downstream industrial chains to build an end-to-end competitive advantage of “resources—materials—batteries—recycling”; and accelerate digital transformation to achieve refined management.

This development layout of “consolidating existing scale while expanding incremental growth” not only continues the solid base of industrial work from the Li Shijiang era, but also conveys the tacit understanding developed through many years of coordination between father and son.

Meanwhile, this new chairman has also shown distinctive innovative boldness.

The new energy battery segment he leads has now formed a pattern of coordinated development across three major bases: the North base (Jiaozuo New Energy) plans capacity of 50 GWh; the South base (Ningfu New Energy) plans capacity of 120 GWh; and the overseas base plans capacity of 30 GWh, for a total planned capacity of 200 GWh.

“Within two years, we need to achieve large cylindrical battery capacity of 180–190 GWh and continue to maintain a market advantage far ahead of others. By then, just the sales revenue from this one segment alone will reach RMB 60–70 billion, so the upstream and downstream industrial chain that forms around it is expected to reach a scale on the order of RMB 100 billion.” Li Yunfeng said. The difficulty of this goal is not small, but he will give it his all.

The ambition of this new leader goes even beyond that: “Now Multi-Fold has revenue of more than RMB 10 billion every year. In the next five years, I want to make that number even bigger.”

Li Yunfeng, trained in philosophy, quoted Camus: “The flame on earth is equal to the fragrance in the sky.” Then he added, “But I want the raging fire on the ground more than the faint, elusive fragrance in the sky.”

Father and son have different styles; their underlying character is the same.

As Li Shijiang’s quote goes: “One generation has its own mission; one generation has its own responsibility.”

A massive amount of information, precise interpretation—right on the Sina Finance APP