City Developments Limited executive chairman Guo Lingming believes that his eldest son, President of Urban Development Group Guo Yizhi, tried to use his unconfirmed innuendo to Wu Guanying as a defense of the “coup” of the Urban Development Board and a blatant violation of corporate governance.

Wu Guanying is a key figure involved in the internal strife between the Guo father and son. She was the board of directors of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), a subsidiary of Urban Development.

Guo Yizhi once said that the main reason for the internal disputes in the company was Wu Guanying's behavior, which caused serious corporate governance problems.

Guo Lingminggang issued a statement late at night on Tuesday (March 4) announcing that Wu Guanying has resigned from the position of hotel consultant. He also called for the restoration of corporate governance and investor confidence.

Guo Lingming believes that urban development currently has many key issues that need to be solved urgently, including the Sincere Property incident that caused the group to lose 1.9 billion yuan in fiscal year 2020, investment mistakes in the UK real estate market caused the group's net profit to fall by 94% in the first half of 2023, and since Guo Yizhi took office as the group's president in 2018, the stock price of Urban Development has continued to lag behind companies in the same industry, reflecting the decline in investor confidence and intensified shareholder concerns.

Further reading

Wu Guanying resigns from consultant position, the key figure in the internal strife of the Guo father and son in urban development

Wu Guanying resigns from consultant position, the key figure in the internal strife of the Guo father and son in urban development

Guo Lingming pointed out that his eldest son Guo Yizhi's “seizes power” case will begin next month's 11th

Guo Lingming pointed out that his eldest son Guo Yizhi's

Guo Lingming said that the first priority to solve these problems is to strengthen the corporate governance framework and make it in line with the long-term interests of shareholders.

He stressed: “Urban development must focus on core businesses to restore stable profit growth. I believe this approach will help restore investor confidence and increase shareholder value over time.”