On July 26, 2023, the market reverberated with the news that Zuojun Technology, once hailed as a 'challenger to Nvidia' and a star in the semiconductor industry, officially delisted after 57 months of tradingThis company, which reached a market peak of 30 billion yuan, will now be remembered as the 'most expensive ST stock' in history, ultimately ending its journey at a valuation that reduced it to a mere '1 yuan chip stock'.

Founded in August 2007, Zuojun Technology positioned itself as a provider of hardware and software solutions in the information security domainIt made its debut on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's Growth Enterprise Market on October 29, 2019, with an IPO price of 21.48 yuan per share and an initial market capitalization of 2.3 billion yuan the next day.

In November 2022, Zuojun Technology gained attention by announcing its subsidiary, Chengdu Beizhong Network Chip, successfully developed China’s first fully domestically produced and controllable programmable network data processing chip, named the Shark NE6000 seriesThis breakthrough positioned Zuojun as a rare contender in China’s burgeoning DPU segment, often compared to Nvidia.

End of 2021 saw proactive disclosures from Zuojun regarding its self-developed programmable network security processing chipsThey expressed optimism about their ongoing projects, hinting that they were on track for successful trials in the latter half of 2022.

According to company reports, the NE6000 chip was lauded as the first domestically produced chip capable of supporting 25G and 100G interface functionalities, mirroring Nvidia's Bluefield2 DPU launched in 2020.

However, within four years of its IPO, the firm issued warnings about potential delisting risks and saw its stock symbol change to *ST Zuojun, marking a shift in its market narrative

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Surprisingly, this warning had an opposite effect on the stock price; buoyed by optimism surrounding the DPU market, Zuojun's stock value skyrocketed, peaking at nearly 300 yuan per share on July 14, 2023—an astonishing increase of over 834% since April 29, 2022, with its market value soaring to 30 billion yuan.

This meteoric rise led to it being dubbed the “most expensive ST stock in history.” ST stocks, as a category, refer to shares of companies that have faced consecutive losses or abnormal financial situations for two years.

However, following their entanglement in a financial scandal, this myth crumbled as the stock price began to decline rapidlyFrom December 2023, the company faced consecutive trading halts, leading to a devastating drop in its market valuationBy the last trading session prior to its delisting, the price had plummeted to just 1.13 yuan, marking its total market capitalization at a mere 11.5 million yuan.

On January 29, 2023, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) announced the initiation of an investigation into Zuojun Technology for serious inaccuracies in their disclosed financial information, leading to allegations of significant financial fraud.

The CSRC’s statements were stern, emphasizing a zero-tolerance approach against misleading financial disclosures that tricked retail investorsThey pledged to enforce stricter penalties on fraudulent companies, ensuring that those indulging in entrenched malpractice would face severe consequencesThe agency also underscored its commitment to uphold delisting regulations, eliminating companies that fail to meet standards.

Despite these grim signals, the investigations proceeded with uncertaintyOn June 28, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange announced its decision to terminate Zuojun Technology's listing, starting a trading phase of delisting preparation from July 8, with the final trading day marked for July 26.

In April 2023, Zuojun had already disclosed that trading in its stock would prompt a delisting risk warning

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