The independent directors of China’s Country Garden resign

Country Garden, the large Chinese real estate company in debt crisis, gets another bad news: the three independent directors, members of the BoD, without proxies, have resigned. The ship is sinking, and those who can are saved.

Country Garden announced Friday (March 15) to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the company’s independent nonexecutive directors, Liming Lai, Shi Liqian, and Tang Huidong, have all announced their resignations from their positions as independent nonexecutive directors due to their “intention to devote more time to other duties.” The measure takes effect on March 15.

The announcement states that the three individuals confirm that they have no disagreements with the company’s board of directors and that there were no other matters to report to shareholders or the stock exchange, but meanwhile, coincidentally, they are leaving.

It is understood that the three directors who resigned are all senior members of Country Garden’s board of directors and have served as nonexecutive directors for 16 years. Liming is 79 years old, Shi Liqian is 78 years old, and Tang Huidong is 73 years old.

Lai Lai was president of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants in the 1980s. Tang Huidong has practiced law in Hong Kong for more than 40 years; Shi Liqian is a former Hong Kong legislator. He is also a director of 14 listed companies. and is known as the “King of Directors” of listed companies in Hong Kong. So these are not ordinary people, but extremely qualified professionals who presumably do not want to put their names alongside those of a company with an uncertain future.

At the same time, Country Garden appointed Han Qinchun, Wang Zhijian, and Tuo Tuo as independent nonexecutive directors of the company, effective March 15.

Country Garden said the new independent nonexecutive directors all have extensive industry experience and professional backgrounds. Han Qinchun has deep experience in real estate, financial investment, and other fields; Wang Zhijian has a solid background in accounting and financial management; and Tuotuo has rich practical and theoretical knowledge in the legal field. All is beautiful, but in the meantime, those who led the company in its golden days are gone.