What’s new: State-owned Aluminum Corp. of China, the world’s largest aluminum producer, has hired Duan Xiangdong from a state-run heavy equipment company as its new chairman, filling a position that has been vacant for more than five months.
Duan, 54, also took up the post of party secretary at the firm, also known as Chinalco, according to a notice published on the company’s website on Friday.
What’s the background: Before joining Chinalco, Duan was general manager, deputy party secretary and director of China First Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., a state-owned enterprise (SOE) that manufactures heavy equipment for the steelmaking, mining, and petrochemical industries, from October 2021 until this month.
After graduating from the University of Science and Technology Beijing in 1990, Duan spent nearly 30 years in the steelmaking industry, serving in various executive roles at SOEs Panzhihua Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. and Ansteel Group Corp. Ltd.
Duan’s predecessor, Yao Lin, stepped down as Chinalco’s chairman in July 2022, three years after taking the helm.
Chinalco, which is fully state-owned, is also Asia’s largest producer of lead and zinc and one of China’s biggest copper producers, according to ratings agency Fitch.
Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com) and editor Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)
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