What’s new: A trio of major Chinese state-owned enterprises have swapped leaders, as part of a broader management reshuffle in the state sector, the government agency responsible for overseeing them announced.
Bai Zhongquan has been appointed the Communist Party chief and chairman of China National Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd., replacing Liu Jingzhen, according to a statement published Friday by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC).
Liu, in turn, has replaced Li Hongfeng as party chief and chairman of China Logistics Group Co. Ltd. Li has moved into the same roles at China Electrical Equipment Group Co. Ltd., replacing Bai.
The SASAC statement also revealed leadership changes at nine other SOEs.
The background: The shake-up comes as China is pushing ahead with a three-year campaign — scheduled to run through 2025 — to deepen reforms at SOEs and make them more innovative.
Earlier this year, the SASAC urged SOEs to increase their control and influence over strategic emerging industrial chains. Strategic emerging industries are a group of sectors such as biotechnology, new-energy vehicles and next generation information technology identified by the Chinese government as key future economic drivers.
Contact reporter Wang Xintong (xintongwang@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)
