Whether this northwestern energy giant can successfully "strike gold" on the Shanghai Bund remains to be determined by the market.

After lying dormant for nearly five years, China Evergrande's unfinished "luxury dream" is being reignited by an Inner Mongolia energy giant.

Recently, the Shanghai Planning and Natural Resources Bureau officially announced the construction engineering design plan for the HK286A-03a plot in Hongkou District's Bund North area, originally owned by China Evergrande Group. This core plot, once envisioned by China Evergrande as a flagship luxury development, is now being taken over by Inner Mongolia energy giant Inner Mongolia Yitai Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yitai Group"), with plans to restart development as "improved luxury housing."

This five-year ownership transfer represents not only another successful case of China Evergrande's debt restructuring, but also reveals the strategic considerations of Yitai Group, known as the "flag of coal industry," as it ventures into real estate and enters first-tier cities.

━━━━ Five Years of Complex Ownership Changes

Bund North, together with the Bund and Lujiazui, forms Shanghai's core waterfront "tripod" structure. The HK286A-03a and 03c plots, located adjacent to Magnolia Plaza and just 300 meters from the Huangpu River, were dubbed "diamond plots" when they were first offered in 2020.

In September of that year, China Evergrande Group defeated Poly Development in 38 rounds of fierce bidding, securing these two historical preservation and urban renewal plots for a total of 22.95 billion yuan, with a floor price of approximately 51,000 yuan per square meter and a premium rate of 10.87%.

China Evergrande originally planned to develop the site as luxury 400-square-meter apartments called "Evergrande Bund Tianxi," intended as a flagship asset in Shanghai. However, the company's funding crisis disrupted all plans.

To quickly recoup funds, China Evergrande rapidly transferred 70% of the project's equity to a subsidiary of Everbright Xinlong Trust after acquiring the land, retaining only 30% ownership. After China Evergrande fell into financial difficulties in 2021, the project completely stalled, facing risks of idle land penalties and government reclamation.

It wasn't until the end of 2023 that China Evergrande transferred its remaining 30% stake to Everbright Trust, formally exiting the project. Surprisingly, just 15 days later, Everbright Trust transferred the 30% stake to Yitai Real Estate (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

According to public information, the project's construction entity is Shanghai Henggeng Real Estate Co., Ltd. Equity penetration analysis shows this company is wholly owned by Yitai Real Estate (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., which in turn is 100% controlled by Inner Mongolia Yitai Investment Co., Ltd. The ultimate controlling party of the project is indeed the "coal baron" Yitai Group.

Unlike China Evergrande's original plans, the latest public proposal shows that the HK286A-03a plot covers 9,963.6 square meters with a floor area ratio of 3.47, featuring 2 high-rise residential buildings, 1 affordable housing unit, and integrated commercial facilities, with a total floor area of 34,586.76 square meters.

The adjacent HK286A-03c commercial and office plot has a total construction area of 15,700 square meters with a floor area ratio of 4.03, and completed its proposal announcement in October 2024.

Industry insiders at Yitai Real Estate revealed that this project, as Yitai Group's first residential project in Shanghai, will abandon existing product lines like "Tianjiao" and "Huafu," launching a completely new product series focused on "improved luxury housing" rather than the ultra-large luxury apartments originally planned by China Evergrande.

"This is a typical 'product positioning downgrade' strategy," analyzed industry experts. Yitai Real Estate's choice of small-to-medium improved housing units not only aligns with current Bund North market demand but also leverages the cost advantage of the 51,000 yuan per square meter floor price (significantly lower than Greentown's 126,000 yuan per square meter Bund North plot in 2024), potentially entering the market as "high value-for-money river view housing" and serving as differentiated supplementation to regional high-end products.

However, Yitai Group's "debut" in Shanghai's high-end market faces severe challenges. The Bund North luxury housing market in 2025 is experiencing fierce competition, with Jinmao Puyuan, China Resources Bund Ruifu, and Greentown Bund North projects successively entering the market.

In early August, Jinmao Puyuan launched 99 units at an average price of 166,000 yuan per square meter with approximately 175% subscription rate; Bund Ruifu targets total prices of 20-30 million yuan; Greentown's project is expected to launch large units of 200-310 square meters, potentially challenging prices of 200,000 yuan per square meter.

In comparison, Yitai Group's project only plans 2 residential buildings and includes substantial commercial facilities, raising questions about product purity and market acceptance.

Additionally, the plot retains approximately 5,600 square meters of historic preservation buildings, with planning requirements to completely preserve the architectural layout from the 1920s-1930s. Commercial space must account for at least 35.55%, office space cannot exceed 20%, and the commercial-office portion must be wholly retained for at least 20 years, imposing extremely high operational capability requirements on developers.

Furthermore, market trust in Yitai Group's quality standards still needs strengthening. Some users have reported issues with "specification reductions" and "actual conditions not matching promotions" in the first phase of Yitai Huafu Regis in Hohhot.

More notably, in July 2025, the Yitai Huafu Regis (West District) project developed by Inner Mongolia Zhanfeng Real Estate, controlled by Yitai, experienced a vehicle accident resulting in one fatality.

These past controversies remind Yitai Group that the Shanghai project requires greater investment in quality control and safety production to dispel buyer concerns.

Regarding market concerns such as "how to overcome insufficient brand influence" and "whether standardized processing procedures have been established for quality complaints in delivered projects," attempts to contact Yitai Real Estate Group for responses were met with staff stating they were "unclear about specific situations and unable to contact relevant responsible persons." No interview response had been received by publication time.

━━━━ Energy Giant's Cross-Industry Confidence

Yitai Group's confidence in taking over Shanghai's "diamond plot" from China Evergrande's debt restructuring and challenging the first-tier city luxury housing market stems from its substantial corporate strength. While the "Yitai" name may be relatively unfamiliar in Shanghai real estate circles, it is a renowned "Ordos benchmark" in the coal industry.

Inner Mongolia Yitai Group was established in March 1988, initially founded by Zhang Shuangwang with 21 administrative surplus personnel and 450,000 yuan in startup capital. After multiple entrepreneurial attempts, the company leveraged Ordos' abundant coal resources to focus on coal transportation, gradually growing into a large clean energy enterprise with "coal production, transportation, and sales as foundation, railways and coal chemicals as core, and real estate and modern agriculture as complements."

Today's Yitai Group ranks among China's Top 500 Enterprises (449th in 2024) and China's Top 500 Private Enterprises (227th in 2024), with 74 controlling subsidiaries, total assets exceeding 100 billion yuan, over 6,300 employees, and business operations covering over 20 domestic provinces and regions as well as Russia and Australia.

Yitai Group's steady development is inseparable from founder Zhang Shuangwang's leadership. This entrepreneur, once crowned "Inner Mongolia's richest person," has navigated multiple critical transitions during his 37-year entrepreneurial journey.

In 1998, he promoted the company's transformation from pure state-owned enterprise to "63% state-controlled + 37% employee shareholding"; in 2001, during the coal industry's winter, he welcomed the complete withdrawal of Ordos municipal government's state shares, achieving full employee ownership private enterprise transformation; subsequently, he seized the coal market dividend period to advance mechanization reforms, leading Yitai Group into a leapfrog development phase.

In capital operations, Zhang Shuangwang also demonstrated foresight. He promoted "Yimei B-share" listing in 1997 and achieved H-share listing in 2012, raising substantial development funds for the enterprise. As of 2024, Zhang Shuangwang and his son Zhang Donghai rank among China's Top 500 Private Enterprises with 17 billion yuan in wealth.

However, management changes in August 2024 drew market attention. Yitai Group's chairman and legal representative changed from founder Zhang Shuangwang's son Zhang Donghai to Liu Chunlin, with the father-son duo formally exiting management. This change sparked market discussion, even generating rumors of "Zhang Shuangwang immigrating to the United States," which Yitai Group did not address.

Public information indicates the Zhang Shuangwang family still firmly controls Yitai Group. According to corporate records, Zhang Shuangwang holds 37.54% shares in the group's controlling shareholder Inner Mongolia Yitai Investment Co., Ltd., while Zhang Donghai holds 3.78%, serving as first and second largest shareholders respectively, with Zhang Shuangwang remaining the actual controller. This "management transfer, control retention" model ensures continuity of Yitai Group's strategy.

While real estate is not Yitai Group's primary business, it represents an important segment of its "non-coal industry complement" strategy. Corporate records show Zhang Shuangwang currently owns 8 real estate companies, including Shanghai Henggeng Real Estate Co., Ltd., Inner Mongolia Yitai Real Estate Group Co., Ltd., Tangshan Caofeidian Yitai Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., Inner Mongolia Yitai Jingtai Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., Hainan Yitai Real Estate Co., Ltd., Yitai Real Estate (Chengdu) Co., Ltd., and Inner Mongolia Zhanfeng Real Estate Development Co., Ltd.

Among these, Inner Mongolia Yitai Real Estate Group Co., Ltd., established in 2006, serves as the core platform with secondary development qualifications, 9 billion yuan registered capital, nearly 20 billion yuan total assets, and has formed a "one body, two wings" layout. With Beijing and Inner Mongolia as the main body and eastern coastal areas and southwestern Chengyu as two wings, it has cumulatively developed over 4.4 million square meters, establishing three mature product lines: "Yitai Tianjiao Series," "Yitai Huafu Series," and "Yitai Qingcui Series."

Taking over the Shanghai Bund North plot is not Yitai Group's first "assistance" to China Evergrande. In 2022, it invested 1.1 billion yuan to acquire Hohhot plots, taking on the task of resuming construction and delivery guarantees for Evergrande Yuefu, demonstrating strong financial capacity and resource integration capabilities.

Now establishing presence in Shanghai, the Bund North project represents for Yitai Group not merely a simple real estate project, but a "door-knocker" for entering first-tier city markets and enhancing its real estate segment's brand power. Whether this northwestern energy giant can successfully "strike gold" on the Shanghai Bund still awaits the market's final verdict.