Was the dissolution of Yixing Robotics, founded by the son of Li Shufu, a heroic "strategic sacrifice"?
Recently, the dissolution of Yixing Robotics, a leading robot enterprise, has attracted industry attention.
The news of Yixing Robotics' dissolution has gradually been confirmed. According to Yicai, it has been confirmed that the company is in the process of dissolution, and relevant personnel with Geely background have basically withdrawn.
The dissolution of a company is normal. What has drawn attention is that the actual controller of Yixing Robotics is Li Xingxing, the son of Li Shufu, and the company has not been established for long. Since its registration on May 9 this year, it has been less than half a year. According to Yicai, on August 13, Yixing Robotics announced the completion of the "friends and family round" of financing. On September 17, Yixing Robotics completed hundreds of millions of yuan in the "seed round" of financing, with investors mainly from Geely-related industries. Geely-related industries such as Caocao Chuxing and Jingneng Microelectronics, as well as BV Baidu Ventures, Tongchuang Weiye, Galaxy General, and Landai Technology participated in the investment.
The report shows that almost all investors in Yixing Robotics are from Geely's "friends and family circle", which may indicate Geely's emphasis on Yixing Robotics. Yixing Robotics was once considered an important move for Geely to layout in the robotics field, and Geely also had high hopes for it. Geely's systematic layout of intelligent and embodied intelligence as strategic directions began with the "Smart Geely 2025" strategy in 2021. After that, in 2023, Geely launched the "Jiyue" automotive robot brand through cooperation with Baidu, starting large-scale exploration, and further invested and cooperated in 2025 to expand its robotics map.
In 2021, Geely released the "Smart Geely 2025" strategy, building a "smart technology ecosystem network" by constructing new technological infrastructure such as high computing power, big data, large models, and satellite constellations, which laid a technological foundation for the subsequent layout of embodied intelligence.
Some viewpoints point out that the dissolution of Yixing Robotics is not simply a failed startup, but a manifestation of Geely Group's strategic focus on the high-investment and long-cycle track of embodied intelligence. Why did the star startup team led by Li Xingxing, the son of Li Shufu, dissolve so quickly?
Geely's intelligent driving business starts to focus resources
The dissolution of Yixing Robotics was unexpected.
Yixing Robotics originally had a luxurious lineup. Ding Yan, a star researcher from Shanghai AI Lab, the team of Professor Jiang Yugang from Fudan University, the team of Professor Wang Yu from Tsinghua University, and the internationally renowned FastUMI data collection team were all recruited. With sufficient funds and backed by Geely, the dissolution of Yixing Robotics was completely beyond market expectations. However, Ding Yan, the CTO and co-founder of Yixing Robotics, confirmed the dissolution on his social platform. The resume introduction of Yixing Robotics on Ding Yan's personal Xiaohongshu account clearly indicates the period from June 2025 to October 2025, which exactly matches the time.
Even the company's employees were very surprised. Fang Yu from the technology department of Yixing Robotics said that the company was developing well. The investors who participated in the investment in August wanted to increase their investment, and there were many orders in September. After the eight-day National Day holiday, the employees received the news of the immediate dissolution, which was hard for them to accept: "It's like the frontline fighters are fighting desperately, but the rear orders you to withdraw."
Fang Yu did not name who the "rear" was. Judging from the equity structure of Yixing Robotics, the "rear" may be Geely. Pan Yunbin, the chairman of Yixing Robotics, is also the CEO of Geely Semiconductor. Geely-related personnel play a crucial role in Yixing Robotics. The equity penetration map on Tianyancha shows that the actual controller of Yixing Robotics is Li Xingxing, with a shareholding ratio of 65.66% and 51% of the voting rights.
Currently, although Li Xingxing is 40 years old, he may not have much say in Geely. The person in charge of Geely is still Li Shufu. From the acquisition of Lifan to the renaming to Qianli Technology, Li Shufu has been laying out the "AI + vehicle + robot" field. Geely now attaches more importance to Qianli Intelligent Driving. Especially in September this year, Lifan Holdings transferred 135 million shares of Qianli Technology to Mercedes-Benz Digital Technology at a price of 9.87 yuan per share, involving an amount of 1.342 billion yuan, which shows the recognition of Qianli Technology by multinational automobile companies. Under Geely's industrial synergy, Qianli Technology has built a relatively complete production and sales system.
So some viewpoints point out that there is an overlap in the business between Yixing Robotics and Qianli Technology, another star company in the "Geely system". The former focuses on embodied intelligence, while the latter is positioned as "AI + vehicle + robot" and has been personally endorsed by Li Shufu and is preparing for a Hong Kong stock listing. Therefore, the dissolution of Yixing Robotics is not due to business failure, but Geely's resource focus.
As early as June 2025, Geely, Megvii (through Maichi Zhixing), and other entities jointly established Chongqing Qianli Intelligent Driving. Among them, Qianli Technology invested 1.5 billion yuan, accounting for 30% of the shares. The legal representative is Wang Jun, the former president of Huawei's Vehicle BU. At the same time, Wang Jun is also the co-president of Qianli Technology. Previously, these personnel changes have been regarded as an important signal for Geely's adjustment of the intelligent driving industry pattern.
Geely provides vehicles, Megvii provides intelligent driving technology, and Lifan (Qianli) provides the platform. Through cooperation, their goal is to become the next Huawei Vehicle BU. Especially, Li Shufu has a very good impression of Yin Qi of Megvii Technology. At the press conference in September 2025, Li Shufu revealed that the core reason for investing in Qianli Technology was that he "hit it off" with the founder Yin Qi, believing that he was a "smart person", and hoped to promote the integration of AI and the automotive industry through cooperation. As the founder of one of the former "Four Little Dragons of AI", Yin Qi may have a higher status in Li Shufu's heart than Ding Yan.
After all, through Li Shufu's capital operation, Qianli Technology has become a popular "intelligent driving" concept stock, and its valuation has soared to 55 billion yuan. From the acquisition of "Lifan" to the introduction of Yin Qi and then to Wang Jun, the former president of Huawei's Vehicle BU, Geely Research Institute, Jikr Intelligent Driving, and Maichi Zhixing under Megvii have all been integrated into the newly established "Chongqing Qianli Intelligent Driving". The core is only Qianli Intelligent Driving, and Yixing Robotics may only be a technical reserve option for Geely's intelligent driving business.
Li Xingxing is not a first-time entrepreneur
As the son of Li Shufu, the chairman of Geely Group, Li Xingxing entered the business world early. He served as a supervisor of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd. since 2012 and as the executive general manager of Lynk & Co. Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. since 2015. In 2016, Li Xingxing became the person in charge of Geely's new CMA modular architecture, officially entering the core field of Geely Automobile.
Li Xingxing prefers to start his own business. In 2018, he founded Cheduoduo and Chexiaoduo successively. Cheduoduo, which mainly engages in second-hand car consumer finance, once received an investment of 17.7 million US dollars in the A round. However, they both failed to overcome the profit hurdle.
In December 2020, Zhejiang Yaoning Technology Group Co., Ltd. was established, and Li Xingxing served as the legal representative and executive director, with a personal shareholding of 80.75%. This company evolved from the former Geely Parts Business Development Center and finally became independent from Geely Group. It is also regarded as a "testing ground" given to Li Xingxing by Li Shufu.
In 2022, Chenxing Co., Ltd., a phosphorus enterprise worth hundreds of billions, "exploded", its actual controller was detained, and it was overwhelmed by debts and went into bankruptcy reorganization. Its stock price dropped to rock bottom. Li Xingxing spent 517 million yuan to buy 25.78% of the shares of Chenxing Co., Ltd. and became the actual controller. On November 7 of that year, he became the chairman of Chenxing Co., Ltd. and brought in Xu Haisheng, a backbone member of the Geely system, to serve as the CEO. Xu Haisheng joined Geely in 2007 and has rich experience in investment and financing, joint ventures and cooperation, mergers and acquisitions, and reorganizations.
After Li Xingxing took over Chenxing Co., Ltd., the company's performance did not improve. In 2023 and 2024, the company suffered losses for two consecutive years, with net losses of 60.83 million yuan and 198.9 million yuan respectively. Especially in 2023, its revenue was 3.101 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 31.66%. It was not until the first half of this year that the company turned losses into profits, with a net profit of 18.56 million yuan.
On October 22, Chenxing Co., Ltd. issued a shutdown notice. The reason was that a yellow phosphorus spontaneous combustion accident occurred in the factory area on October 20. Fortunately, no casualties were caused. This yellow phosphorus spontaneous combustion incident was not the first safety accident of Chenxing Co., Ltd. In 2020, an explosion occurred in the sodium phosphate salt workshop of its subsidiary, Jiangyin Chenxing Daily Chemicals, resulting in one person being injured. This safety accident and the subsequent shutdown have caused certain damage to the reputation and market confidence of Chenxing Co., Ltd., which has just emerged from the loss dilemma, and its stock price immediately dropped by 9.48%.
It is worth emphasizing that Li Xingxing's ability to turn Chenxing Co., Ltd., which once suffered a huge loss of 2.34 billion yuan, into a profitable company in three years proves that his management ability is very excellent. Especially in the first half of 2025, Chenxing Co., Ltd.'s revenue was 1.776 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.85%, and its net profit was 18.5612 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 211.08%.
Is Yixing Robotics just Geely's "letting go"?
Another legendary entrepreneur in the business world, Cao Dewang, passed on the baton to Cao Hui, which has attracted high public attention to the succession of the second generation. The official succession of 55-year-old Cao Hui to Cao Dewang also marks the emergence of a wave of second-generation succession, and the first-generation entrepreneurial entrepreneurs will gradually withdraw from the business stage.
The entrepreneurial resources of the second generation are an advantage, but not a guarantee of success. These cases seem to reveal a cruel fact that even if the second generation invests a lot of resources, it is not easy to succeed in starting a business. The dissolution of Yixing Robotics founded by Li Xingxing is not due to any problems with Li Xingxing's management ability, which can be confirmed by his previous entrepreneurial projects.
On the surface, this is a regrettable failed startup, but a deep analysis of the underlying logic shows that this is more like a "letting go" based on the group's highest strategy - a cruel but necessary resource integration to concentrate superior forces and win future battles.
Although Yixing Robotics and Qianli Technology belong to the Geely ecosystem, their paths and positioning are very different, but they have an irreconcilable conflict in their core goals. Since its birth, Yixing Robotics has focused on the cutting-edge track of embodied intelligence. Its strategic core is to "reverse engineer AI", starting from the real industrial scenarios in Geely's factories and designing algorithms and work processes in reverse, aiming to solve core problems such as task decomposition, data collection, and machine learning of robots in super industrial scenarios.
Qianli Technology, on the other hand, is positioned as "AI + vehicle + robot" and is based on intelligent driving. The company is considered the result of Geely's integration of internal autonomous driving resources, and its core businesses are intelligent driving, intelligent cockpits, and Robotaxi solutions. Its technology framework is advanced, and the VLA model of the robotic arm in the robotics field shares the same model framework with the end-to-end intelligent driving model, reflecting the technical reuse of "vehicles" and "robots".
On September 28, Li Shufu personally endorsed Yin Qi, the founder of Qianli Technology, and publicly announced that "the future belongs to Yin Qi", which is equivalent to announcing the shift of the strategic focus to the entire group and the capital market. More importantly, Qianli Technology officially submitted an application for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on October 16, marking that it has entered the fast lane of capitalization and has become Geely's flagship platform to showcase its AI and robotics ambitions to the outside world.
The overlap in their business is extremely high. Yixing Robotics' exploration in industrial scenarios is essentially the "movement" of robots in the physical world; while Qianli Technology's vision of "AI + vehicle + robot" also points to enabling machines to make autonomous decisions and execute in complex environments. Both are targeting the high-profit embodied intelligence market and rely on large AI models, data collection, and real-scenario training. Under Geely Group's "One Geely" strategy, the in-depth integration of internal resources has become inevitable. The "Taizhou Declaration" clearly states that business positioning should be clarified to avoid repeated development and resource waste. When two projects with similar positioning and overlapping target markets coexist, the group must make a choice.
The dissolution of Yixing Robotics is not due to poor management. On the contrary, it obtained commercial orders within just a few months and had a strong development momentum. The fundamental reason for its dissolution is that after weighing the pros and cons, Geely