Haidilao under pressure, Daniel Zhang leads the "female army" back to the front line

Performance has declined again, management issues have frequently arisen, and HAIDILAO has finally decided to make significant personnel changes.

On January 13, founder Daniel Zhang replaced Gou Yiqun as the company's CEO, marking his return to frontline management nearly four years after stepping back from daily operations at HAIDILAO. Alongside him, four young "female generals" who have grown from the grassroots level at HAIDILAO also took on new roles.

This major personnel adjustment is not only a response to the current operational pressures faced by HAIDILAO but also a way to cultivate and train a new generation of management, focusing on long-term planning.

Daniel Zhang Leads the "Female Generals" Return

After nearly four years away from frontline operations, HAIDILAO (06862.HK) founder Daniel Zhang has chosen to return and personally take charge of the company's operations.

On January 13, HAIDILAO announced that executive director and CEO Gou Yiqun has resigned from his positions, along with two other executive directors, Song Qing and Gao Jie.

The three resigning directors will still hold important management roles at HAIDILAO. Gou Yiqun will be responsible for coordinating the intelligent and automated management processes, promoting operational model upgrades and the construction of an intelligent middle platform, enhancing organizational management efficiency and decision-making effectiveness; Song Qing will continue to serve as the director of the group's product committee.

After Gou Yiqun's resignation, the vacant CEO position will be filled by the company's founder and chairman of the board, Daniel Zhang. This marks his return after handing over the CEO role in March 2022 and stepping back from frontline operations.

Although the Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing rules clearly require a distinction between the roles of the chairman of the board and the CEO, and that the same person should not hold both positions, Daniel Zhang's dual role as chairman and CEO does not comply with these regulations. However, the HAIDILAO board believes that there are sufficient checks and balances within the company, and that Daniel Zhang's dual roles will not undermine the balance of power and authority between the board and management.

Alongside Daniel Zhang, four young "female generals" have also taken on new roles: Li Nana (38 years old), Zhu Yinhua (44 years old), Jiao Defeng (39 years old), and Zhu Xuanyi (35 years old), all of whom have been appointed as executive directors of the company. HAIDILAO stated that the extensive renewal of executive directors is to support the company's continuous innovation and long-term development, actively cultivating and training a new generation of management.

From their personal backgrounds, these four newly appointed executive directors do not have glamorous credentials; they have all risen from the grassroots level at HAIDILAO, fully reflecting the company's talent philosophy and selection criteria.

In 2005, Li Nana, who was not yet 18, began working at HAIDILAO. Over the past 20 years, she has held positions such as store manager and trainer at various locations. Currently, she serves as a director and holds other positions in four subsidiary companies under the group. She does not have an impressive academic background, having only obtained a diploma in business administration from Huazhong Agricultural University in June 2024; last May, she completed an advanced business management training course at Wuhan University.

Zhu Yinhua also does not have a high initial education level, having completed an advanced study program in business administration at Zhejiang University in 2017. She joined HAIDILAO in 2007, starting from the store level, and has served as the internship regional manager for HAIDILAO in Hubei and Chongqing since September 2025 Jiao Defeng has an associate degree from Henan Vocational and Technical College. He joined HAIDILAO in 2012 and has served as the manager of several HAIDILAO stores in Nanjing. Since April 2025, he has been the head of the Product Management Department II, responsible for product research and development as well as procurement.

The younger Zhu Xuanyi is one of the few "high achievers" among this group of promoted "female generals." She obtained a bachelor's degree in accounting from Xi'an International Studies University in 2013. After joining HAIDILAO in 2018, Zhu Xuanyi made rapid progress. She has held positions such as assistant store manager and store manager, during which she demonstrated high capabilities in store management and crisis response. Since July 2023, she has served as the secretary-general of the CEO's secretariat, responsible for deeply assisting the CEO in strategic planning, management decision-making, and core business promotion.

Business Under Pressure Again

Before 2020, HAIDILAO's development was smooth sailing. With its exceptional service, it led the upgrade of the Chinese catering service industry and became a model for almost all service industries to learn from.

Under the leadership of Daniel Zhang, this hot pot restaurant, which started in 1994 in Jianyang, Sichuan, expanded across the country and grew into the largest Chinese restaurant chain in the world.

In 2018, HAIDILAO successfully listed on the Hong Kong stock market, and founder and controlling shareholder Daniel Zhang saw his wealth soar, becoming the "richest person in Singapore."

However, with the sudden arrival of an unfavorable external environment, HAIDILAO finally encountered a significant crisis in its development journey.

In 2020, when the catering and other offline service industries generally chose to contract and weather the storm, Daniel Zhang, as CEO of HAIDILAO, appeared overly confident, making incorrect judgments about the trend and accelerating store openings against the trend.

The accelerated expansion of the store network did not lead to performance growth. At this time, the crisis had quietly arrived but did not raise enough alarm within HAIDILAO.

In the first half of 2021, HAIDILAO continued to accelerate its store expansion, with the total number of stores approaching 1,600. However, the external environment remained severe, and the company's overall operations took a sharp downturn.

In a critical moment, HAIDILAO had to hit the brakes urgently, launching the "Woodpecker Plan" to adjust the pace of expansion and close unprofitable stores. However, the significant decline in performance and huge losses over two consecutive years in 2020 and 2021 became inevitable.

In March 2022, HAIDILAO's executive team underwent a major adjustment, with Daniel Zhang resigning as CEO, succeeded by Yang Lijuan, who was then the deputy CEO and COO.

Yang Lijuan, known as the "best waitress," followed Daniel Zhang in starting the business and grew into a senior executive at HAIDILAO from a waitress.

After taking over as CEO, she demonstrated extraordinary determination, strictly implementing the "Woodpecker Plan" to decisively close underperforming stores. When the operating environment improved slightly, she discreetly launched the "Hard Bone Plan," synchronizing store openings and closures.

During her tenure as CEO, Yang Lijuan achieved remarkable results. In 2022, the company turned losses into profits, and the following year, performance reached new heights.

After completing the phased tasks, HAIDILAO once again underwent personnel changes. In July 2024, Gou Yiqun succeeded Yang Lijuan as CEO of HAIDILAO, while Yang joined Tehai International as CEO to help HAIDILAO expand in international markets 2025 is a tumultuous year for HAIDILAO. After the "urine gate" incident in February, the company handled it promptly, but it also completely exposed significant management flaws. Just as the aftershocks of "urine gate" had not settled, the "diaper incident" occurred at the end of the year, adding insult to injury.

The management issues within the company were also clearly reflected in the financial statements.

In the first half of 2025, HAIDILAO opened 25 self-operated restaurants and 3 franchised restaurants, while closing 33, resulting in negative growth in store scale. During this period, the company achieved operating revenue of 20.7 billion yuan and a net profit of 1.759 billion yuan, representing year-on-year declines of 3.66% and 13.72%, respectively. The turnover rate, which HAIDILAO prides itself on, dropped from 4.2 in the same period last year to 3.8.

Regarding the overall decline in operational efficiency and performance, HAIDILAO's mid-year report for 2025 analyzed objective reasons such as intensified competition in the dining market and changes in consumer demand, while also acknowledging that the management team had shortcomings in management capabilities.

This may be the most direct reason prompting HAIDILAO to make significant personnel adjustments at the start of 2026.

This article is sourced from: Zebra Consumption