10 Trillion: The World 'Copper King' Faces a Hole Deeper Than Evergrande's

Mounting liabilities and legal squeeze

It has been reported that Zhengwei Group (正威集团), long billed in Chinese media as the "world copper king," is confronting liabilities on the order of RMB 10 trillion — a hole some commentators say eclipses that of Evergrande (恒大). The claim of a RMB 10 trillion gap has not been independently audited; nonetheless, since the start of 2026 Zhengwei and multiple subsidiaries have faced a wave of judicial enforcement actions, asset freezes and auction notices, with some individual cases ranging from small claims to multi‑hundred‑million‑RMB rulings. On 23 February 2026 the listed unit Zhengwei New Materials (正威新材) disclosed that a 9.56% stake held by a related entity would be put up for judicial sale — a move that could trigger a change of control.

An empire built on paper?

Zhengwei’s founder Wang Wenyin (王文银) built his reputation by claiming vast global copper reserves and rapid revenue growth: the group reported revenue in the trillions of RMB and at times ranked in the Fortune Global 500. But reporting indicates the company's business model relied heavily on related‑party trades — some disclosures show as much as 93% of reported revenues flowed between affiliated entities — while net profit margins were vanishingly small. Public geological and academic records reportedly do not corroborate many of the group's mining claims, and multiple large industrial parks developed as part of an expansion into semiconductors, new energy and property remain idle or unfinished after land and facilities were used as collateral to raise loans.

Tangled with Evergrande and institutional creditors

Wang’s deep financial entanglement with the property giant Evergrande (恒大) amplified the strain. It has been reported that Zhengwei injected cumulative funds in excess of RMB 100 billion into Evergrande projects and used group assets as cross‑pledged collateral; when Evergrande collapsed, those exposures crystallised, aggravating cash‑flow pressures. Suppliers and local governments in several provinces have reported stalled projects and reclaimed land, while banks and bondholders face potential recoveries mostly in the form of frozen or encumbered assets rather than cash.

Systemic risks and policy backdrop

Could failure at a conglomerate of this scale ripple beyond creditor balance sheets? Possibly. Copper is critical to electrification and global clean‑energy supply chains, and the group's cross‑border claims and domestic lending links mean any large forced asset sales or contagion could affect commodity markets, regional employment and local government finances. The episode also intersects with Beijing’s years‑long push to reduce leverage, curb speculative property finance and tighten scrutiny of related‑party transactions — a regulatory backdrop that has both exposed risky business models and limited quick policy fixes. For now, courts, creditors and potential buyers will determine whether Zhengwei can be recapitalised, restructured or dismantled — and whether the myth of a "world copper king" was ever more than a marketing slide.