Former fund manager becomes a 22.5 billion yuan billionaire, invests 2 billion yuan in a "bet" on Southeast Asia

Radar Finance Production | Text by Peng Cheng | Edited by Meng Shuai

Putaoli, which made a huge profit of 2.359 billion yuan last year, has announced an overseas investment plan exceeding 2 billion yuan.

According to Putaoli’s announcement on the evening of March 11, the company plans to invest no more than $297 million through its wholly owned subsidiary to build a 50,000-ton lithium-ion battery anode material plant in Kelantan, Malaysia.

It is noteworthy that, prior to this, in December 2024, Putaoli had decided to terminate the implementation of a 100,000-ton lithium-ion anode material integrated production base project in Sweden, due to inability to fully agree with the conditions proposed by the Swedish Strategic Products Control Agency.

From withdrawing from Scandinavia to re-engaging in Southeast Asia, this shift reflects not just a change in location but a recalibration of the company’s survival strategy amid global supply chain restructuring.

The company’s bold investment in Malaysia may be backed by its impressive performance. Just a few days ago, the company reported annual revenue of 15.711 billion yuan and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.359 billion yuan.

Last year, Putaoli’s revenue hit a record high, with net profit nearly doubling year-over-year, soaring by 98.14%.

In the latest Hurun Global Rich List 2026, Putaoli’s leader Liang Feng and his wife ranked with a fortune of 22.5 billion yuan, doubling their wealth from the previous year.

Radar Finance learned that, besides Putaoli, this industry veteran with a fund management background also controls another listed company, RiBo Fashion. Additionally, he is currently working on taking Putaoli’s subsidiary, Jiatuo Intelligent, public on the Beijing Stock Exchange.

However, beneath the success, challenges remain. The failed Swedish project serves as a cautionary tale, and there are ongoing issues with capacity digestion. Under these pressures, whether Putaoli’s Malaysia project can meet expectations and help the company achieve new performance breakthroughs remains to be seen.

Last year’s profit exceeded 2.3 billion yuan, with a 2-billion-yuan “bet” on Malaysia

On the evening of March 11, Putaoli announced that it plans to invest in a 50,000-ton lithium-ion battery anode material project in Malaysia through its wholly owned subsidiary, Zichen Malaysia Limited.

The announcement states that the project’s total investment will be $297 million (about 2.051 billion yuan), with a construction period of 24 months, located in Gurun Industrial Park, Kelantan, Malaysia.

Regarding this investment in Malaysia’s anode material production base, Putaoli clearly stated that the goal is to seize opportunities in overseas markets, especially Southeast Asia, to promote its internationalization strategy, serve nearby clients, and meet the demands of downstream customers and end markets.

According to Putaoli’s 2025 financial report, its domestic revenue reached 14.595 billion yuan, accounting for about 93%; overseas revenue was only 936 million yuan, about 6%.

However, expanding overseas production is supported by solid market demand. EVTank data shows that in 2025, China’s anode material shipments reached 2.922 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 38.1%. Among these, shipments of artificial graphite anode materials increased their share to 86.9%, reaching 2.54 million tons.

In this context, the strategic importance of the Malaysian project lies in enabling “nearby delivery” to overseas customer factories, improving supply stability and response speed, reducing logistics costs, strengthening customer loyalty, and leveraging Malaysia’s geographic advantages and tariff agreements to expand into broader overseas markets, further enhancing global supply chain service capabilities.

It is worth noting that this project, with a total investment exceeding 2 billion yuan, will be funded by Putaoli’s own capital.

In fact, the company’s strong performance is a key reason behind its willingness to invest heavily in Malaysia.

According to the 2025 annual report, Putaoli achieved revenue of 15.711 billion yuan, a 16.83% increase year-over-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 2.359 billion yuan, up 98.14%.

Behind these results is the full-scale breakout of the company’s core businesses.

As a leading enterprise in coating and separator processing, Putaoli’s coating volume last year reached 10.942 billion square meters, a 56.3% increase year-over-year, accounting for 35.3% of the global new energy battery coating separator market, maintaining the industry’s top position for seven consecutive years.

Moreover, its film substrate business also made significant breakthroughs, with product cost-performance and quality stability highly recognized by downstream power battery and energy storage clients. The annual sales volume reached 1.495 billion square meters, a 160.5% surge, ranking sixth in the domestic market, with an improved self-supply rate.

Compared to this, Putaoli’s anode material business grew more slowly, with annual shipments of 143,000 tons, up 8.1% year-over-year.

However, through process optimization, graphitization upgrades, power curve adjustments, raw material formula improvements, and cross-site production collaboration, costs have been effectively reduced, leading to an increase in gross profit margin for the anode business.

From fund manager to billionaire

The key figure behind Putaoli’s performance surge last year is its nearly 60-year-old leader—Liang Feng.

Tianyancha shows that Liang Feng is the actual controller of Putaoli and currently serves as its chairman. With a strong background in finance, he has significantly influenced the company’s strategic direction.

His public resume indicates he was born in 1968, worked early in Dongguan Xinke Magnetic and Electrical Products Co., Ltd., and later transitioned into finance.

He gained extensive experience at CITIC Group’s Shenzhen Zhongda Investment Management Co., Ltd., CITIC Fund Management Co., Ltd., and Aegon Huatai Fund Management Co., Ltd.

In 2012, Liang Feng co-founded Putaoli and became an executive director. Since 2015, he has served as chairman, completing his transition from fund manager to industry executive.

Through a series of capital operations involving establishing, acquiring, and selling subsidiaries, Putaoli has built a complete industry chain in key materials and equipment for the lithium battery sector, and was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s main board in November 2017.

Besides Putaoli, Liang Feng is also the actual controller of another listed company, RiBo Fashion. This company, known for its mid-to-high-end women’s apparel brand “Broadcast,” underwent a complete transformation under his leadership.

This pivotal change occurred at the end of 2025, when RiBo Fashion acquired a 71% stake in Sichuan Indile Materials Technology Group Co., Ltd.

The latter is the industry’s first enterprise specializing in PAA-type water-based binders for lithium batteries, serving major clients like CATL, BYD, and CALB. According to GGII, in 2024, PAA water-based binder market share in China reached 49%.

This restructuring allowed RiBo Fashion to add lithium battery binder business to its existing high-end apparel operations, optimizing its business layout and strengthening profitability, thus enabling strategic transformation.

Recently, the company completed a business name change to Shanghai Puyuan Chemical Materials Group Co., Ltd., with the stock abbreviation to be changed to “Puyuan Materials” (pending approval from the Shanghai Stock Exchange).

On March 11, RiBo Fashion also announced the latest progress on the second phase of its Yindile project in Meishan.

The second phase will utilize existing facilities from the first phase, add new equipment to produce 140,000 tons of lithium battery binders annually, with an investment of 311 million yuan. The total funding for phases one and two is 552 million yuan.

Additionally, Liang Feng is planning to list Jiatuo Intelligent, a subsidiary of Putaoli, on the Beijing Stock Exchange. These moves clearly reflect his capital “ambitions.”

Radar Finance notes that in the latest Hurun Global Rich List 2026, Liang Feng and his wife Shao Xiaomei are ranked 1464th with a combined wealth of 22.5 billion yuan, doubling their net worth from the previous year.

Challenges from failed projects and capacity pressures

Despite record-breaking performance, Putaoli’s Malaysia plant plan faces multiple challenges, including lessons from the terminated Swedish project and ongoing capacity digestion issues.

In 2023, Putaoli announced an ambitious plan to invest no more than 15.7 billion Swedish kronor in Sweden to build a 100,000-ton integrated production and R&D base for anode materials.

However, in December 2024, the company received a notice from the Swedish Strategic Products Control Agency, which refused approval because Putaoli could not fully agree with the conditions under Sweden’s Foreign Direct Investment Act for the 100,000-ton lithium-ion anode material project.

As a result, Putaoli decided to terminate the Swedish project, highlighting the uncertainties surrounding its Malaysia investment.

The company’s announcement on the Malaysian project admitted that it still needs approvals from Chinese authorities (such as development and reform, commerce, foreign exchange) and local government agencies, with uncertain timelines.

More challenging is how to digest the upcoming capacity. By the end of 2025, Putaoli’s annual capacity for anode materials reached 250,000 tons, while actual shipments last year were only 143,000 tons.

If the Malaysia project, with a planned annual capacity of 50,000 tons, is realized, Putaoli’s total anode capacity will exceed 300,000 tons.

Putaoli acknowledges that increasing capacity may impact profitability if industry growth or market demand declines significantly. The 24-month construction cycle also means short-term contributions are limited.

In its 2025 annual report, the company noted that under the global push for green and low-carbon economies, the lithium battery industry—driven by new energy vehicles and energy storage—continues to expand rapidly. This intensifies market competition, and if downstream automakers pass cost pressures upstream, battery material prices could fall further, adversely affecting profits.

Although Putaoli’s net profit nearly doubled in 2025 and it claims sufficient cash reserves, the project still requires substantial investment.

Construction will be phased, and adverse changes in funding, credit policies, financing channels, or interest rates could pose financial risks.

Transitioning from Sweden to Malaysia with over 2 billion yuan “bet” on Southeast Asia, Putaoli’s future development remains a focus. Radar Finance will continue to monitor.