Source of this article: Times Finance Author: Zhong Dai
Image source: Picture Worm Creative
A 9-room homestay, a design and creativity center, a digital nomad commune, some tea shops and restaurants, etc., this is a white tea town with a total investment of 6 billion yuan, and it is currently presenting a commercial format.
Located in Anji, Huzhou, Zhejiang, Baichayuan Town is a cultural and tourism characteristic town project transformed by Shanghai Aijia Real Estate Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Aijia Group"), which announced that it planned to invest 6 billion yuan to build a rural pastoral tourism complex.
However, the reporter learned from a staff member of the township government under Anji County that the town of Baichayuan has only landed sporadic formats, and the plans for saleable formats and camps have not yet been implemented.
Behind this, Times Weekly found that Aijia Group has been stuck in the progress of a number of development projects, involving a number of legal disputes, and the legal representative has been frequently issued by the court to restrict consumption.
6 billion investment in cultural tourism town
Aijia Group is a long-established local real estate company in Shanghai, founded in 1982, and there is very little information about the history of its founder, Li Sheng'an, on the Internet.
During the Li Sheng'an period, the development of Aijia Group has been relatively low-key, rarely appearing in media reports, and its sales volume by 2018 is only just over 10 billion. In 2018, Li Sheng'an passed on the position of president of Aijia Group to his daughter Li Yanyi, who was only 25 years old at that time.
After Li Yanyi took over, Aijia Group sought to cooperate with other real estate companies and began to expand. According to the reporter's incomplete statistics, in 2020 and 2021, Aijia Group has successively formed strategic cooperation with real estate companies such as Sanxun Group, Zhongnan Jinshi, Sino-Ocean Group, and Xincheng Holdings.
At the same time, Aijia Group is also trying to transform, aiming at being a cultural tourism characteristic town, and the Anji White Tea Town mentioned above is the first project of Aijia Group's transformation.
According to Zhejiang Daily, in January 2019, the China Anji White Tea Town Rural Revitalization Complex Development Project was officially signed, and Shanghai Aijia Group will invest 6 billion yuan to work with the Xilong Township Government to focus on the white tea industry, combined with modern agriculture, education, health care, tourism and other four major industries, to build a Xilong all-for-one rural pastoral tourism complex, with a total construction period of 10 years.
It is understood that in the planning, the whole town will introduce nature schools, introduce parent-child outdoor activities, parent-child tourism projects, and build a complex with white tea as the theme, museums, tea factories, homestays, etc.
Now, five years have passed, according to the Times Weekly, there is currently only a 9-room homestay, a design and creative center, a digital nomad commune, some tea shops and restaurants and other sporadic formats in Baichayuan Town, and the saleable formats have not yet been built, and the whole town is waiting for funds to revitalize.
Tianyancha shows that Anji Xuhong Real Estate Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aijia Group, was sued by Helisheng Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd. due to a dispute over a decoration contract, and the latest court date is February 29, 2024.
Times Weekly learned from an industry insider that Xu Weilin, who has a Fosun background, and Xu Longgao, a government background, have been hired as the heads of the Anji White Tea Town project, but it is difficult for external professional managers and Li Yanyi's ideas to run in, and neither of them has been in office for a long time.
The legal representative is restricted from spending
For Aijia Group, it is not only the original white tea project that is waiting to be revitalized.
Tianyancha shows that from 2021 to 2023, Aijia Group will be involved in dozens of legal proceedings, including commercial housing sales contract disputes, construction engineering design contract disputes, private lending disputes, and service contract disputes, and Aijia Group is mostly the defendant.
Times Weekly found that the current legal representative of Aijia Group is no longer Li Yanyi, but has become Zhai Xin. Tianyancha shows that in August 2021, Aijia Group underwent a change of investor (equity), Li Yanyi and Xue Ping withdrew, and the new party was Suzhou Aiyong Investment Co., Ltd., which is 100% owned by AIJIA Hong Kong Holding Limited. In September 2022, the legal representative of Aijia Group was changed from Li Yanyi to Zhai Xin.
At present, due to a number of judicial disputes, Zhai Xin has been issued a consumption restriction order.
Recently, a number of sources revealed to the Times Weekly that Aijia Group has potential performance disputes with financial institutions such as Ruili Fund, Bank of Wenzhou, and Xiamen International Bank due to arrears of employee salaries, social security, and supplier payments, and some of these projects have been sued. For example, the Yangzhong Xia Feiji project once became the focus.
According to public information, Yangzhong Xia Feiji project is located in Yangzhong City, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, and the full name of the project company is Yangzhong Luhang Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Luhang Real Estate"), which is a holding subsidiary of Aijia Group, with Tianyancha Aijia Group showing a shareholding ratio of 75.0499% and Shanghai Ruili Jiacheng Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) holding 23.9521% of the shares.
According to the website of Fang Tianxia, the first phase of Aijia Xia Feiji opened in September 2021 and was originally scheduled to be delivered on May 30, 2023. However, a staff member of Fang Tianxia told reporters that the first phase of the project has not been delivered so far, and it is expected to be delivered in the first half of this year according to the progress of the existing project. The reporter found that the project is currently frequently updating the construction status on social media.
In addition, according to Tianyan, Luhang Real Estate was involved in 17 lawsuits, all of which were defendants, and the causes of action included disputes over the right of recourse for bills, contract disputes, bill disputes, and sales contract disputes, with 6 records of the person subject to enforcement, with a total amount of 852,900 yuan, 7 records of restricted high consumption, and 6 records of the final case, with a total amount of 3.5206 million yuan.
The reporter contacted the above financial institutions about the situation of the Xia Feiji project, among which the business line of Wenzhou Bank said that it could not be disclosed to the media, and the relevant staff of Ruili Fund said that they would "not participate in the relevant reports of Aijia media for the time being".
In addition to the Xia Feiji project, Wuhan Baolongda Aijia Land, jointly developed by Aijia Group and Baolong Group, has not started construction for five years. "The foundation of the project has not yet been laid," an intermediary who took a look at the Baolongda Aijia project told reporters.
The reporter noticed that as early as October 2023, some netizens asked on the Wuhan city message board: "When will Baolongda Aijia start?" The official reply of Dongxihu District said: "After receiving your appeal, the community staff immediately went to the site to check the situation, and contacted the relevant departments to inquire about the specific situation. ”
On the issue of the start of the Baolongda Aijia project, the reporter called the open telephone of the Wuhan Natural Resources and Planning Bureau, and the operator suggested that the reporter consult the Wuhan Citizens' Home. Subsequently, Time Weekly repeatedly called the Wuhan Citizens' Home, but was not connected.
Several industry insiders revealed to the Times Weekly that there was a problem with the financing of the Baolongda Aijia project, and it is currently being sued by the Hubei Branch of CITIC Financial Asset Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "CITIC Financial Assets Hubei Branch") due to performance problems.
For the above questions, Times Weekly sent a letter to Aijia Group, but as of press time, the other party has not replied.