Neta Auto's Founding Team Hit Again with $160M Equity Freeze as Parent Hozon New Energy Faces Bankruptcy Restructuring

On June 17, 2025, publicly disclosed legal litigation records revealed that Fang Yunzhou, founder of Neta Auto, and former CEO Zhang Yong have had additional equity freezes imposed, with a combined frozen amount of RMB 116 million. The freeze involves Tongxiang Hechuang Deli II Enterprise Management Consulting Partnership (Limited Partnership), established in September 2022 with a registered capital of RMB 200 million. This entity was jointly founded by Fang Yunzhou, Zhang Yong, and others and serves as the core founding team’s shareholding platform for Neta Auto, indirectly holding equity in Hozon New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. The freeze has a three-year term and is being enforced by the Changning District People's Court of Shanghai. Over the past six months, equity interests linked to both individuals have been judicially frozen multiple times. In late 2024, 19.86 million shares of Hozon New Energy directly held by Fang Yunzhou were frozen for the first time. Since early 2025, the scope of freezes has expanded to multiple affiliated platforms and subsidiaries, including RMB 405 million in equity held by Zhang Yong in Tongxiang Hechuang Deli III Technology Consulting Partnership, and RMB 2 billion in equity held by Hozon New Energy in Zhonglian Tianxia Automotive Sales & Service Co., Ltd. On May 27, 2025, an additional RMB 17.67 million in equity held by both individuals in Shanghai Zheao Industrial Co., Ltd. was frozen—less than a month before this latest, larger-scale freeze occurred. On March 13, 2025, Fang Yunzhou, Zhang Yong, and Yichun Langling Enterprise Management Consulting Center—a company controlled by the two—were listed as discredited被执行人 (dishonest judgment debtors) by the Changning District People's Court of Shanghai for “having the ability to perform but refusing to fulfill obligations stipulated in effective legal documents.” The corresponding enforcement target amounted to RMB 226,800. Prior to this, the two individuals and their affiliated entities already had over RMB 1.4 million in outstanding enforcement records. As early as September 2025, Shanghai Zheao Industrial was subjected to consumption restrictions due to its failure to fulfill a payment obligation of RMB 469.7 million, and Fang Yunzhou, as its legal representative, was also barred from high-end consumption. Hozon New Energy’s operational condition continues to deteriorate. The company topped new energy vehicle sales among Chinese startups in 2022, yet accumulated net losses from 2021 to 2023 reached RMB 18.3 billion—averaging over RMB 80,000 in losses per vehicle sold. Starting in the second half of 2024, the company faced severe challenges, including layoffs, salary cuts, and delayed payments to contractors. In May 2025, an advertising agency filed for bankruptcy reorganization of Hozon New Energy with the Intermediate People's Court of Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, citing debt disputes. In June 2025, the court accepted the case. Disclosed data shows the company’s debts include approximately RMB 3.32 billion owed to suppliers, RMB 1.1 billion in bank loans, RMB 460 million in employee wages and severance payments, and RMB 140 million in advertising service fees. Local state-owned capital invested heavily during project introductions. Yichun City in Jiangxi Province invested nearly RMB 2 billion through platform companies to acquire equity and provided factory construction services, ten years of rent waivers, and purchase subsidies. Nanning City in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region committed approximately RMB 2.4 billion via funds and platform companies, including RMB 1.6 billion from enterprises under the municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), funded through borrowings and bond issuances. Combined with investments from Tongxiang in Zhejiang and other locations, total state capital injections exceeded RMB 5 billion—most of which now appears unrecoverable. Currently, Neta Auto’s three major production bases—in Yichun, Nanning, and Tongxiang—have completely halted operations, and its supply chain system has nearly collapsed. Hundreds of thousands of existing vehicle owners now face disrupted after-sales maintenance, voided warranties, suspended OTA updates, and shortages of spare parts.