Xingyu Apologizes Twice Over 107 Graduate Job Rescissions Amid Robot Push, HK IPO
Changzhou-based auto-lighting maker Xingyu has apologized twice after 107 new graduates were forced to resign or take operator jobs amid a labor dispute that also drew attention to its robotics expansion and Hong Kong listing plan.
According to a QbitAI report, Xingyu hired 440 graduates from the class of 2026 in July, for roles in research, engineering and management trainee programs. After only about one month on the job, its human-resources staff began meeting the 107 graduates in groups and gave them a choice: resign voluntarily and receive half a month's salary, or be reclassified as workshop operators with pay set at the operator standard. Several graduates said HR indicated that failing to sign would affect their background checks in the industry.
On Aug. 25, the Changzhou Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau said in a statement that Xingyu's approach during consultations had been "simple and harsh" and had lacked "sufficient and effective communication." Two days later, Xingyu publicly apologized and said it would provide job-seeking living allowances for three months to each affected graduate. On Sept. 2, Zhou Xiaoping apologized again at the company's interim-results meeting, the second apology in seven days, according to the report.
The fallout spread. Some graduates compiled interview recordings and communication records and submitted complaints through Volkswagen Group's supply-chain compliance reporting channel, according to the report, triggering a special Volkswagen investigation into labor-rights protections in its supply chain. Separately, Phoenix Net Technology reported that former employees described, beneath Xingyu's "family culture," a workplace with intense internal friction, rigid mechanisms and continual talent loss.
The crisis has emerged as Xingyu's core auto-lighting business contends with slowing growth. Its gross margin fell from 26.01% in 2020 to 19.28% in 2024, then recovered to 19.65% in 2025, when revenue rose 15.12% to 15.257 billion yuan and attributable net profit increased 15.32% to 1.624 billion yuan, the report said. But in the first half of 2026, revenue increased only 1.87% year-on-year to 6.884 billion yuan, attributable net profit fell 5.26% to 669 million yuan, and operating cash flow fell 17.30% to 991 million yuan.
The QbitAI report says Xingyu had also been reducing headcount quietly. Its workforce fell to 7,532 at the end of 2025 from 10,426 at the end of 2024, a decline of nearly 30%. During 2025, outsourced labor hours rose sharply, from 8.6381 million to 10.8742 million hours.
About a month before the graduate dispute became public, on July 29, Xingyu refiled an application for a Hong Kong listing, resuming an "A+H" plan, and on Aug. 14 it obtained a filing with mainland China's securities regulator. According to the draft prospectus, proceeds would fund an overseas expansion in Serbia, research and development for smart lamps and embodied artificial intelligence, digital upgrades and supplementary working capital.
Behind the robotics expansion is Zhou Xiaoping's son, Zhou Yuhang. In October 2025, Xingyu established Changzhou Xingyu Intelligent Robot Co. with registered capital of 100 million yuan, initially wholly owned by Xingyu. Three months later, collaborative-robot maker JAKA Robotics acquired a 30% stake, leaving Xingyu with 70%. JAKA had supplied Xingyu before, and Xingyu held 0.53% of JAKA. Zhou Yuhang, a Shanghai Jiao Tong University graduate with a management master's degree from the University of Sheffield, joined Xingyu in 2013 and is now vice chairman of the board and executive director of the robotics unit.
The robot company does not build complete humanoid robots. Its offerings focus on head-interaction modules, optical modules, robot skin and structural components, leveraging Xingyu's lighting, injection molding and optical expertise. In January it published a patent on "interaction intention projection," and in April it displayed four robot product lines at the Beijing auto show alongside JAKA. The only publicly identified client is Mojia Robot, a Chery affiliate; a Mojia representative told QbitAI that Xingyu was already a Chery lamp supplier and one of several suppliers for its robot. At the WAIC conference, Xingyu's hardware was used in Moz2, an interactive humanoid by Qianxun Intelligence, and in JAKA's π robot.
Deliveries to initial customers remain only sample parts, and Xingyu's reported segments still consist solely of lamps and controllers, the report noted. It cited Frost & Sullivan data projecting the global humanoid-robot parts and module market to grow to 461.3 billion yuan by 2030 from 22.2 billion yuan in 2025. But the report expressed doubt that the robotic operation could become a full "second growth curve" anytime soon, pointing to competition from Sunny Optical, Everwin Precision and Hikvision.
Xingyu does not appear short of cash. At the end of June it had 2.738 billion yuan in monetary funds and 909 million yuan in trading financial assets, and it recorded a 991 million yuan net operating cash inflow in the first half. Cumulative dividends since 2023 have reached about 1.645 billion yuan, according to the report, which said market participants were asking where the new funds from a Hong Kong offering would be spent and what growth they could generate.