CHINA Vanke Co., the developer whose reorganization proposal is being stymied by a battle for control, plunged by the 10 percent daily limit yesterday when its shares resumed trading in Shenzhen after being suspended for more than six months.

    The A shares, which have been halted since Dec. 18, fell to 22 yuan as of 9:37 a.m. on the Shenzhen exchange. The Hong Kong-traded stock of China’s biggest residential developer rose 1.2 percent to HK$15.38 (US$us$1.98), trimming its decline this year to about 32 percent.

    The company’s board has voted against an extraordinary general meeting called by units of its largest shareholder, Baoneng Group, to remove almost all directors.

    Vanke’s board voted for a plan to oppose that proposal by the units, Shenzhen Jushenghua Co. and Foresea Life Insurance Co., according to a statement to Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Sunday. The developer will inform shareholders who asked for the EGM of its decision, it said.

    Vanke has announced a 45.6 billion yuan (US$6.9 billion) share sale to Shenzhen Metro Group in a bid to end a battle for control of the developer that has been going on for more than six months. China Resources (Holdings) Co. and Baoneng, its largest shareholders, have said they opposed the deal that would make the southern Chinese rail operator Vanke’s biggest shareholder.

    A vote last month at a board meeting in favor of the restructuring plan had been legal and effective, after a query from the Shenzhen exchange, Vanke said in a statement Friday.

    The withdrawal from voting of Zhang Liping, an independent non-executive director, was within the rules, the company said. Zhang, employed by Blackstone Group, abstained from voting on the proposal because Blackstone and Vanke are in talks about a commercial project.

    China Resource opposed the legality of the vote, saying only members directly affiliated with the companies involved in the resolution — in this case, Shenzhen Metro — should be excluded from voting.

    The board will make a written response to explain why it is rejecting the request, the company said in a stock exchange filing without giving further details on the decision.

    Vanke’s second-biggest shareholder China Resources said Thursday that it opposed Baoneng’s move but would consider the merits of a future restructuring of the board.

    (SD-Agencies)