The current situation of Qinghai Alkali Industry Co., Ltd.

"Build into a world-class alkali industry base and become a bright pearl in the Qaidam Basin", this red slogan still hangs quietly at Qinghai Alkali Industry Co., Ltd. (Qinghai Alkali Industry for short) The most eye-catching location in the compound. But now, this former pearl has been eclipsed and is even in danger of falling. Qinghai Alkali Industry is a large-scale private chemical enterprise built by Zhejiang Glass Co., Ltd. (referred to as Zhejiang Glass, 0739.H K) as the main investor. A reporter from the "Economic Information Daily" learned during an interview in Qinghai that Qinghai Alkali Industry transferred funds to its parent company, Zhejiang Glass, through 83 accounts. As a result, the company fell into a debt black hole of billions of yuan and was on the verge of bankruptcy. It is now on the verge of bankruptcy. Taken over by the local government. 6 billion yuan of debt piled high, and various creditors came to press for debts. On December 6, Delingha City ushered in the first snow after the beginning of winter. On this day, more than two months have passed since the Haixi Prefecture government announced that it would take over Qinghai Alkali Industry and adopt a closed operation. The reporter saw that in the office building and the production area, merchants carrying leather bags were constantly coming and going with worried expressions. "These people are here to collect debts, or creditors have been notified to reconcile accounts." In a corner of the office building, an employee of Qinghai Alkali Industry told reporters. According to a supplier from Hubei, Qinghai Alkali Industry still owes them more than 1 million yuan in payment for materials. He said worriedly: "We are very worried about what will happen to our money once the company goes bankrupt." A reporter from the "Economic Information Daily" learned from relevant government documents that the current loan balance of Qinghai Alkali Bank is 2.556 billion yuan. Acceptance bills amounted to RMB 80 million, loans due in 2010 amounted to RMB 230 million, and monthly interest on various loans reached RMB 30 to 40 million. At the same time, as of the end of July 2010, Qinghai Alkali Industry had accumulated tax arrears of 114 million yuan, including 70.2049 million yuan in local taxes and 41.2 million yuan in national taxes. In terms of raw materials, Qinghai Alkali Industry currently owes a total of 62.14 million yuan in raw material payments, including 11 million yuan for limestone, 26 million yuan for anthracite, 23 million yuan for salt, and 2.14 million yuan for liquid ammonia. "There are still many loans that we don't know about." Long Siqing, the financial team of the Qinghai Alkali Industry Management Committee, told reporters that during the management committee's management period, they had received financial institutions and units from different provinces many times. Qinghai Alkali Industry's accounts even include many usurious loans. "(The channel of fund transfer) is very hidden. Some loans are directly made to Zhejiang Glass. If we hadn't issued a notice and asked some companies and institutions with debt relationships to come here to reconcile accounts, it would be difficult to detect these situations." Long Siqing sighed. Government documents show that, excluding loan guarantees and other social borrowings and arrears, Qinghai Alkali Industry has made payments to the Haixi Branch of the Qinghai Provincial Branch of the Agricultural Bank of China, the Qinghai Provincial Branch of the Bank of China, the Haixi Branch of the Qinghai Provincial Branch of the China Construction Bank, and the Qinghai Branch of the China Development Bank. Six banking financial institutions, including the Provincial Branch and Xi'an Branch of China Merchants Bank (600036), provided loans, raising huge amounts of debt. For example, as of June 20, Bank of China Qinghai Branch's loan of 50 million yuan was overdue (December 5, 2009), with interest of 01.5 million yuan, and the loan of Haixi Branch under the jurisdiction of Agricultural Bank of China Qinghai Branch was 1.17 billion yuan. In April, interest arrears of 40 million yuan began. After preliminary verification by the Management Committee, Qinghai Alkali Industry’s various debts are at least 6 billion yuan. Zheng Changshan, director of the Management Committee, said: "Who will repay such a huge debt? How to repay it? This is our biggest headache." With 83 accounts in three sets of financial seals, Qinghai Alkali Industry was frantically "blood-drawn"

The reporter's investigation found that in the seven years since the establishment of the factory, Qinghai Alkali Industry has become a free raw material warehouse for Zhejiang Glass, and on the other hand, it has acted as a "treasury" for Zhejiang Glass to transfer funds.

According to relevant media reports, Qinghai Alkali Industry has been responsible for the related transaction task of supplying 30,000 tons of soda ash every month for its major shareholder Zhejiang Glass since the beginning of its construction. However, almost every large soda ash transaction amount has not been paid. Able to pay in place.

An insider told the Economic Information Daily that in fact, Zhejiang Glass had internal financial problems as early as 2003, and Qinghai Alkali Industry was used as a "life-saving" tool to make money. The mortgageable assets of Qinghai Alkali Industry have been repeatedly pledged. Documents from the Haixi Prefecture government show that Qinghai Alkali Industry once loaned 996 million yuan to Minsheng Bank (600016), of which 450 million yuan was equity pledge. Qinghai Alkali Industry used its current assets to borrow 680 million yuan from China Construction Bank and 450 million yuan from Agricultural Bank of China.

Even the land and resources allocated by the government to Qinghai Alkali Industry in order to support the development of the company were mortgaged by the company. Qinghai Alkali Industry once pledged 1,755 acres of land to the Shaoxing Branch of Zhejiang Construction Bank for a loan of 54.84 million yuan. In addition, it also pledged limestone for a loan of 100 million yuan from the Qinghai Bank of China.

The former management of Qinghai Alkali Industry also revealed to reporters that Qinghai Alkali Industry borrowed hundreds of millions of yuan in "usury" from various companies and institutions. In addition, there are multiple mutual guarantees between Qinghai Alkali Industry and Zhejiang Glass, making their finances very confusing.

Relevant investigations from the Management Committee are even more shocking: In order to facilitate borrowing in different places, a company in Qinghai Alkali Industry actually has at least three sets of special financial seals and 83 accounts at the same time. According to Long Siqing, Qinghai Alkali Industry’s three sets of financial seals are one for Haixi Prefecture, one for China Development Bank loans, and another set for Zhejiang Glass. Zheng Changshan told reporters that the 83 accounts opened by Qinghai Alkali Industry are distributed in different places, and 29 are still in use.

According to an informed source, a large number of construction units, suppliers and dealers that have cooperative relationships with Qinghai Alkali Industry have also become the most convenient channel for transferring funds. Generally speaking, partners are used as intermediaries, and funds are first transferred from Qinghai Alkali Industry's account to the partner's account in the name of equipment purchase money, and then transferred to Zhejiang Glass through the partner's account. The boss of a construction unit told reporters that he had been forced to act as a tool for Qinghai Alkali Industry to transfer money more than once. "There is nothing we can do to recover the project funds."

In this way, more than 6 billion yuan of funds were transferred to Zhejiang Glass, and Qinghai Alkali Industry suffered a 7-year "blood draw" Lost vitality.

The future of the company is uncertain, and the regulatory authorities are to blame

Different from the deserted office building, in the central control building in the production area, what the reporter saw was a tense and orderly work scene. "I only know production, and I know that as long as we (the production workshop) stay together, the company will survive." said Chen Chungang, the former deputy manager in charge of production at Qinghai Alkali Industry and now the deputy director of the Qinghai Alkali Industry Management Committee.

“The company is really a good company and cannot close down.” Chen Chungang pointed to the table on the wall filled with various production and operation conditions and introduced to reporters that since Qinghai Alkali Industry was put into operation in September 2005, its annual production capacity It has now reached 1 million tons. With resource advantages and an excellent production management team, the current cost has been controlled at about 600-700 yuan/ton, which is far lower than the cost of alkali plants in the mainland. If calculated based on the average market price of 1,500 yuan/ton, the annual profit can be maintained at least 500-600 million yuan.

But at present, many employees interviewed by reporters, including Chen Chungang, are full of worries about the future of the company. It is understood that Zhongxi Accounting Firm (Beijing) has entered Qinghai Alkali Industry to conduct audits and asset clearance. In addition, China Salt Group has previously sent people to the company to conduct inspections. According to industry analysis, Qinghai Alkali Industry is most likely to be reorganized by China Salt Group and Salt Lake Group (000578). But so far, the two companies have not made any statement.

In fact, as early as 2007, reporters had investigated and reported to the Qinghai Provincial Banking Regulatory Bureau the transfer and evasion of funds by Qinghai Alkali Industry. Regrettably, large-scale fund transfers continued for as long as three years under the noses of regulatory authorities.

During several days of interviews, the reporter faced a collective silence from banks and financial regulatory authorities.

On Yangtze River Road in Delingha, where Qinghai Alkali Industry is located, the large characters of "Qinghai Provincial Banking Regulatory Bureau Haixi Branch" shine brightly in the sun. But in the face of the reporter's interview, a leader named Xiong didn't know anything about it, and refused the reporter's interview with a document issued by the China Banking Regulatory Commission in 2006.

“The tragedy of Qinghai Alkali Industry is worth pondering for financial and regulatory departments including banks.” A person in charge of the Qinghai Alkali Industry Management Committee said bluntly: “The bank knew that it had If there is a problem, why do we continue to lend? "

In the Qinghai Alkali Industry Factory, there is a banner that is thought-provoking: "Fools exchange blood for lessons, and wise men use lessons to stop bleeding. "A local cadre who was interviewed by reporters said that the lessons learned by Qinghai Alkali Industry through long-term "blood loss" can wake up more people.