On the morning of February 24th, a netizen revealed that a company in Guangyuan, Sichuan Province, was requiring its employees to purchase company stocks, ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 shares per person, and stipulated that those who did not hold stocks within two days would be dismissed.
A screenshot of an internal group chat shared by a netizen showed that in a WeChat group named “Electrolysis Workshop of the Second Factory All Staff,” a group administrator posted an announcement stating that all employees must strictly adhere to the company’s policy of all staff holding stocks, with a minimum of 10,000 shares, equivalent to 30,000 RMB (Chinese Yuan); supervisors and group leaders must hold stocks starting from 100,000 RMB (more than 30,000 shares) and complete the task within two days. Otherwise, those who did not complete the stock holding would be dismissed as requested by the factory.
The announcement emphasized that “loan quotas have been approved,” and company executives stated that this is “not a matter of whether to buy stocks or not, but a matter of whether to work or not. Buy stocks and work, don’t buy stocks and don’t work,” encouraging everyone to “understand the situation.”
In the video comment section, a netizen revealed that the company involved is “Zhongfu Aluminium in Guangyuan, Sichuan.”
Public information shows that Guangyuan Zhongfu High-Precision Aluminum Materials Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Henan Zhongfu Industrial Co., Ltd., with 688 employees, a net profit of 576 million RMB in 2023, and total assets of 3.899 billion RMB.
The revelation online sparked public attention and discussion. When a reporter from Huashang News contacted the company’s human resources department for verification, the staff responded, “I don’t know,” and then hung up the phone. However, staff from the Labor Supervision Department under the Social Affairs Security Bureau in Guangyuan Economic Development Zone stated that there was no mandatory requirement for employees to purchase stocks, clarifying that there was a miscommunication in the transmission of information.
Nevertheless, the explanation of a “miscommunication” seemed unsatisfactory to many netizens. Many expressed concerns such as, “The company’s financial chain has broken, with debts of several tens of millions or even hundreds of millions in banks. If banks refuse to provide loans, there is no capital turnover, so they reach into the pockets of employees, which is very dangerous…,” “This is the company owner using all employees for illegal fundraising. When the boss disappears with the money, employees will be left with nothing, unable to win any lawsuits. Painful lessons are everywhere,” “If making money is possible, why the need for the lower ranks?” and “This is a real-life version of paying to go to work.”
“It’s common for many companies to forcefully acquire employees’ shares at low prices when profitable or require all employees to hold stocks when not profitable,” “My wife’s former fertilizer plant did the same, 14,000 RMB, the factory has been closed for thirty years and still hasn’t been paid,” “Forcing employees to buy stocks is illegal fundraising and must be strictly investigated,” some netizens commented.