After disappearing for eight years, Liu Lirong, the founder of Gionee, has resurfaced in Indonesia selling furniture.

Image source: The official WeChat account of Gionee Mobile

After an eight - year absence, Liu Lirong, the founder of Gionee Mobile, has returned to the public eye, sparking heated discussions.

According to a report by Red Star News on April 16, many netizens reported that Liu Lirong is running a furniture company named Starlead in Indonesia. In July last year, he wore traditional Indonesian clothing and attended the opening ceremony of the Starlead showroom. After giving a speech on stage, he sat beside the company's CEO. And He Xing, the founder of Starlead, is an old subordinate of Liu Lirong.

The picture shows Liu Lirong attending a Starlead event

Public information shows that Starlead was established in September 2023. Its main business is the sales of modern furniture, and it has more than 20 exclusive stores in Indonesia. Haier, CATL, Xiaomi, etc. are all its customers.

Liu Lirong's comeback has once again drawn a great deal of attention to him and Gionee Mobile, which have been out of the media spotlight for many years.

Jiemian News noticed that in late January this year, the official WeChat account of Gionee Mobile published several articles about mobile phones. Among them, on January 26, an article on its official account about the mobile phone GN67 introduced that the phone has a battery capacity of 3500mAH, a screen size of 2.8 inches, and is available in black, red, and spruce green.

Jiemian News checked JD.com and found that many models of Gionee Mobile are still on sale, mainly targeting the elderly. Among them, an elderly - oriented mobile phone labeled "Gionee G520" was launched in March last year and is currently priced at 154 yuan, with sales exceeding 700,000 units.

Liu Lirong, born in 1972, was once a prominent figure in the domestic mobile phone industry. In 2002, he founded Shenzhen Gionee Communication Equipment Co., Ltd. and quickly rose to prominence after obtaining a mobile phone production license in 2005. The company once invited singer Andy Lau as its brand ambassador, and the sales of its mobile phones soared.

Data shows that from 2006 to 2009, Gionee Mobile ranked first in the domestic offline mobile phone market; in 2010, it ranked first among domestic mobile phone brands in China and third in the entire industry, only after Nokia and Samsung; in 2011, Gionee Mobile's global shipments exceeded 20 million units, making it the largest feature - phone manufacturer in China; in 2016, the total shipments reached 40 million units, ranking fifth.

While the sales were booming, Gionee began to incur losses in 2013. At first, the monthly loss was no less than 100 million yuan. By 2016 and 2017, the monthly loss was no less than 200 million yuan, with a cumulative loss of 8 billion yuan and a debt of 17 billion yuan. In December 2018, Gionee officially declared bankruptcy.

Although Gionee declared bankruptcy, it has been continuously launching new products. In September 2019, eight months after the bankruptcy, the official WeChat account of Gionee Mobile published a promotional article for two new mobile phones. These two phones are the Gionee M11 and Gionee M11s, which feature a 6.3 - inch FHD+ water - drop screen and are available in three colors: starry black, dreamy blue, and jade green. In the following years, the official account has been updated, and the last article was pushed on January 26, 2026, as mentioned above.

Compared with Gionee Mobile, which has publicly updated its progress, Liu Lirong is much more mysterious. Amid the company's severe debt crisis, he was reported to have lost 10 billion yuan in gambling in Saipan, and some industry insiders revealed that he embezzled 6 billion yuan of the company's public funds. Subsequently, Gionee quickly refuted the rumors, saying that it was a deliberate smear by competitors. However, not long after, Liu Lirong admitted in an interview that he borrowed funds from Gionee to participate in gambling in Saipan due to a lack of funds.

In January 2018, Liu Lirong went to Hong Kong, and his 41.4% stake and personal property were frozen by the court. In October of that year, Liu Lirong and the financial director He Dabing were listed as dishonest debtors by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. To avoid debts, Liu Lirong completely disappeared from the public eye ever since.

The Tianyancha APP shows that currently, Liu Lirong is associated with more than 20 enterprises, more than 10 of which are still in operation, including Gionee (Chongqing) Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Gionee Communication Equipment Co., Ltd., and Shenzhen Doov Technology Co., Ltd. Among them, Liu Lirong is still the legal representative, chairman, and actual controller of Shenzhen Gionee Communication Equipment Co., Ltd. On February 26 this year, the company became a debtor, with an execution target of 100 yuan.

As of now, there are 3 pieces of information about Shenzhen Gionee Communication Equipment Co., Ltd. being a dishonest debtor, with the involved amount exceeding 90 million yuan; there are 14 pieces of historical information about being a dishonest debtor, with the involved amount being about 980 million yuan. In addition, there are also multiple pieces of information about consumption restriction orders under the company and Liu Lirong's name, with the involved amount being 1.15 billion yuan; there are 13 pieces of historical consumption order information, with the involved amount being 328 million yuan.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Jiemian News", author: Hou Ruining. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.