Suzhou's "little giant" enterprise specialized in precision bearings is targeting an IPO, with its products applied in fields such as robots and automobiles.

Today, the "2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference" kicks off in Shanghai, with more than 200 robotics enterprises participating in the exhibition, which has become a major highlight. Robots consist of a large number of components that require close collaboration across all parties in the industrial chain. Recently, a company specializing in robot bearing products has made a move toward an IPO.

Gelonghui has learned that recently, Suzhou Great Wall Precision Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Great Wall Precision") submitted a prospectus to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, planning to list on the ChiNext board, with China Securities as its sponsor.

Great Wall Precision is a domestic ultra-precision bearing company and a national-level "Little Giant" enterprise specializing in specialized, refined, and innovative technologies. Its products are applied in fields such as machine tools, motors, robots, elevators, textile machinery, and automobiles.

It is reported that the company previously attempted an IPO on the Shanghai Main Board in 2023 under the sponsorship of Sinolink Securities, going through the inquiry and response process, but later withdrew its IPO application. Now it is shifting its focus to a ChiNext listing. What is its true operational strength? Today we will find out.

01 An IPO emerges from Suzhou, with multiple large-scale dividend payouts before listing

Great Wall Precision is registered in Changshu, Suzhou. Its history traces back to Changshu Great Wall Bearing (Group) Co., Ltd., established in 1988. It was restructured into Changshu Great Wall Bearing Co., Ltd. in 2000, and then transformed into a joint-stock limited company in 2022.

Prior to this offering, Zhu Keming collectively controlled approximately 62% of the voting shares of Great Wall Precision, making him the actual controller. In addition, Suzhou Heng'er, Suzhou Hengshan, Wang Zhiliang, Changshu Investment Holding Group, and the National Manufacturing Fund are all shareholders of the company.

Currently, Zhu Keming serves as the chairman of Great Wall Precision. Born in 1960, he holds a bachelor's degree. He previously worked as a technician at North China Aluminum Processing Plant, assistant to the director of Qingdao Aluminum Processing Plant under China Nonferrous Metals Industry Corporation, and also served as assistant to the director of Changshu Machinery and Metallurgical Industry Bureau, director of Changshu Electromechanical Research Institute, and director of State-owned Changshu General Bearing Factory. Since September 2000, Zhu Keming has been employed at Great Wall Precision, successively serving as director, chairman, and general manager.

General Manager Wang Zhiliang was born in 1966 and holds a bachelor's degree. He previously served as the deputy director of State-owned Changshu General Bearing Factory. Since September 2000, he has been with Great Wall Precision, holding positions including director, deputy general manager, and general manager.

It is worth noting that the company has made multiple large dividend payouts before its listing, and most of these funds have gone into the pockets of major shareholders.

According to the previous Shanghai Main Board IPO prospectus, in 2020, 2021, and 2022, Great Wall Precision's cash dividends were approximately 45 million yuan, 105 million yuan, and 92.375 million yuan respectively, with total dividends over three years exceeding 240 million yuan — close to the company's net profit for the same period. This raises suspicion of a "clearance-style dividend payout", and while distributing such large sums, the company also planned to raise 200 million yuan to supplement working capital.

In 2024 and 2025, Great Wall Precision made additional cash dividends of 10.5028 million yuan and 16.1726 million yuan respectively.

Furthermore, from 2023 to 2025 (referred to as the "reporting period"), some of the company's employees were not covered by housing provident fund contributions, exposing the company to the risk of making supplementary payments.

For this ChiNext IPO, Great Wall Precision plans to raise approximately 809 million yuan, which will be used for the expansion and intelligent upgrading project of precision bearings for industrial mother machines and the semiconductor industry, the capacity-building project for key bearings in fields such as robots and new energy vehicles, the intelligent transformation project for industrial equipment bearings, the construction of a high-performance bearing R&D center for emerging fields including embodied robots and high-end medical care, and to supplement working capital.

Arrangement of raised funds for investment projects, image from the prospectus

 

02 Over 80% of revenue comes from the bearing business, with inventory scale increasing year by year

Great Wall Precision's main products include various types of bearings such as ball bearings, roller bearings, and non-standard bearings, while also providing mechanical components like bearing rings.

Its bearing products can be divided into two major categories: special-purpose bearings and general-purpose bearings. Special-purpose bearings mainly refer to bearings designed for specific industries due to their special structural form, operating conditions, or performance requirements, or products customized according to customer needs.

Specifically, during the reporting period, the bearing business contributed more than 82% of the company's revenue, with the vast majority of revenue coming from special-purpose bearing products, while the revenue proportion of mechanical components was relatively low.

Revenue scale of main special-purpose bearing product categories in the company's main business income, image from the prospectus

Bearings support the shafts of mechanical rotating bodies, ensure rotation accuracy, and reduce the load friction coefficient during equipment transmission, earning them the nickname "the joints of machinery."

Bearing accuracy grades are generally divided into five levels: P0, P6 (P6X), P5, P4, and P2, with accuracy improving sequentially from the P0 level.

Among them, P0 and P6 grade bearings meet the performance requirements for general applications; bearings of P5 grade or higher are generally considered precision-grade, adapting to harsh application and operating conditions; high-precision bearings of P4 grade and above are manufactured with the strictest tolerances and are usually called ultra-precision bearings.

Great Wall Precision has the design and production capabilities for more than 5,000 types of bearings, with specifications covering an inner diameter from 2mm to an outer diameter of 500mm.

Specifically, the company's bearing products are used in the spindles, ball screws, and rotary tables of CNC machine tools. Industrial robot bearings are mainly applied in robot bodies, RV reducers, and harmonic reducers. High-speed bearing products in the automotive sector are primarily used in the electric drive systems of new energy vehicles.

The company's main raw materials include bearing rings, semi-finished bearings, steel, and bearing rolling elements. During the reporting period, direct materials accounted for a high proportion of Great Wall Precision's main business costs, exposing the company to the risk of raw material price fluctuations.

Great Wall Precision mainly adopts a direct sales model to downstream customers, with a relatively small proportion of distribution sales. Its clients include Timken Group, GKN, SKF Group, Gaocce Co., Ltd., and Suzhou Tongrun Drive Equipment Co., Ltd. During the reporting period, the company's sales revenue from the top five customers accounted for 44.34%, 41.58%, and 36.52% of its operating revenue respectively.

It is worth noting that at the end of each reporting period, the book value of Great Wall Precision's inventory was approximately 216 million yuan, 228 million yuan, and 291 million yuan respectively. The inventory scale is relatively high and shows an upward trend. In the future, if the prices of main raw materials or products decline, there may be a risk of inventory depreciation.

03 Net profit declines for two consecutive years, facing the risk of intensified industry competition

In the past two years, Great Wall Precision has seized the opportunity of rapid demand release in some downstream industries, leading to a growing revenue trend. However, affected by its newly established overseas subsidiaries Great Wall Thailand and Great Wall North America, which are in the early stages of development during the reporting period, the company's net profit has declined.

In 2023, 2024, and 2025, Great Wall Precision's operating revenue was approximately 722 million yuan, 779 million yuan, and 872 million yuan respectively, with corresponding net profits of about 109 million yuan, 104 million yuan, and 90 million yuan. Notably, both 2024 and 2025 saw revenue growth without profit growth.

In recent years, the global bearing market has shown a growing trend. According to data from Precedence Research, the global bearing market size was approximately 132.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, and it is expected to rise to 329.4 billion U.S. dollars by 2034, with a compound annual growth rate of about 9.53% from 2024 to 2034.

Image from the prospectus

China is one of the main markets for the bearing industry in the Asia-Pacific region. According to data from the China Bearing Industry Association, the size of China's bearing market reached 29.402 billion U.S. dollars in 2024.

The global bearing industry exhibits clear characteristics of oligopoly. Currently, the eight major bearing enterprises — Sweden's SKF, Germany's Schaeffler Group, the U.S.'s Timken, Japan's NSK, Japan's NTN, Japan's JTEKT, Japan's Minebea, and Japan's NACHI — occupy more than 60% of the global market share.

China's bearing market is large, with more than 1,300 bearing enterprises above the designated size. The market has low concentration, with large production capacity for low-end bearings, while some high-end bearings still rely mainly on imports.

Compared with some large comprehensive bearing manufacturers, Great Wall Precision's overall sales scale is relatively small. However, in its segmented application markets, the company's machine tool bearings, elevator bearings, and textile bearing products are technologically leading. In the future, if more domestic high-end bearing manufacturers emerge, the company will face the risk of intensified industry competition.

During the reporting period, Great Wall Precision's comprehensive gross profit margins were 33.01%, 30.12%, and 28.29% respectively, showing a year-on-year downward trend, but still higher than the average value of comparable companies in the same industry. In the future, if downstream market demand declines, industry competition intensifies, or the company fails to effectively control production costs, its gross profit margin and profit level may be affected.

Comparison of the comprehensive gross profit margin levels between the company and comparable companies, image from the prospectus

It is worth noting that the company has a large number of product specifications and models. Quality control runs through the entire process of product R&D, production, sales, and after-sales service, making management quite challenging. Meanwhile, downstream customers have strict quality requirements for the company's products.

If Great Wall Precision makes major mistakes in its production technology level or quality inspection process, resulting in significant product quality issues, it may face the risk of breach of contract compensation.

During the reporting period, Great Wall Precision's R&D expenses were 33.8105 million yuan, 38.0443 million yuan, and 37.1367 million yuan respectively, accounting for 4.68%, 4.88%, and 4.26% of operating revenue. The R&D expense ratio is lower than the average value of comparable companies.

Overall, Great Wall Precision has been deeply engaged in the bearing industry for many years and holds a leading domestic position in segmented markets such as precision machine tool spindle bearings, elevator bearings, and textile bearings. However, it also faces risks including declining net profit, continuously falling gross profit margins, and a large inventory scale. At the same time, its practice of making multiple dividend payouts before listing and then raising funds to supplement working capital has also sparked widespread controversy.

Whether the company can increase R&D investment and enhance its technical strength to seize the opportunity of domestic substitution for high-end bearings is something that Gelonghui will continue to pay close attention to.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Gelonghui New Stocks", written by Fage Talks New Stocks, and published by 36Kr with authorization.