Zhongwang Group, which had always maintained impressive performance after its listing, suddenly announced a business crisis.

Founded in 1993 in Liaoning Province, this company has grown into the second-largest in the world and the largest in Asia for the research and development and manufacturing of industrial aluminum extrusion products. Its controlling shareholder, Liu Zhongtian, once dubbed the "Aluminum King of Asia," has appeared multiple times on the wealth lists of Forbes and Hurun.

From its listing in 2009 to 2020, Zhongwang Group had never recorded a loss. Even in 2020, impacted by the pandemic, its net profit reached 1.8 billion yuan. However, its cash flow statement and balance sheet revealed certain issues. Since its IPO, the company's operating activities generated a net cash inflow of 30.831 billion yuan, but its investing activities resulted in a net cash outflow of 80.88 billion yuan, leading to a funding shortfall of 3.9 billion yuan. As of the end of 2020, the company's total assets and total liabilities were 127.97 billion yuan and 91.033 billion yuan, respectively, with an asset-liability ratio of 71.14%, indicating a high dependence on investments and a funding dilemma.

The authenticity of its financial data was questioned by the market. For example, the auditors issued a qualified opinion on the 2020 annual report as they could not verify the inventory worth 613 million yuan at overseas ports. In 2015, Muddy Waters claimed that 62.5% of Zhongwang Group's revenues since 2011 were fictitious, subsequently Zhongwang Group refuted this.

Zhongwang Group also attempted to resolve its liquidity crisis by returning to the A-share market, but both attempts failed.