In January this year, Beijing Yanran Angel Children's Hospital was unable to pay its rent arrears, which aroused widespread concern in society. This hospital, which was co-founded by Li Yapeng, was forced to move due to a arrears of more than 26 million yuan in rent and other expenses. The court issued an enforcement order and faced the dilemma of having to relocate and become unsustainable.
On the evening of January 14, Li Yapeng released a 30-minute video "The Last Confrontation" on social platforms, detailing what happened and his thoughts on the matter.
Li Yapeng revealed in the video that Beijing Yanran Angel Children's Hospital rented its current location in 2009 and opened in 2012. When the 10-year lease expired in 2019, the landlord demanded that the rent be doubled. "Although the rent is too expensive, moving a hospital is not a trivial matter."
He introduced that when the landlord renewed the lease in 2019, the annual rent increased from approximately 5 million yuan per year (monthly lease of 400,000 yuan) to 10 million yuan (monthly lease of 800,000 yuan). He said: "We discussed it for half a year, thinking about working hard, and signed it. This may be a wrong choice."
After the rent arrears scandal began, more than 340,000 caring people donated more than 20 million yuan online, and many companies and celebrities lent a helping hand. At the same time, Li Yapeng's live broadcast sales have experienced explosive growth, and netizens have flocked to the live broadcast room to place orders.
Since then, issues such as the hospital’s follow-up disposal, whether to relocate and where the new location will go have always attracted the attention of netizens.
According to the latest development, Yanran Hospital has reached mediation with the landlord regarding rent arrears.
The landlord made concessions on rent out of support for public welfare undertakings, and the hospital also decided not to renew the lease at the current site and is still screening for suitable new sites.
Considering that the hospital relocation involves many matters, the landlord provided a transition period of several months.
According to people familiar with the matter, the transition period may extend until the end of 2026, and rents during this period will enjoy certain discounts based on the original contract.
On April 10, Chen Guangbiao, known as "China's most charitable person" by netizens, introduced in an interview that Li Yapeng had determined the new address of Yanran Hospital in Chaoyang District, Beijing, and that construction would begin soon.
Previously, Li Yapeng also said in the live broadcast room that the new location of the hospital will be announced in April, and more accurate information is expected to be available soon.
