Category Leaders on the Move

Yahoo China appoints new general manager -sources

SHANGHAI, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Yahoo China has appointed Xie Wen, former CEO of financial Web portal Hexun.coma, as its new general manager, sources said on Wednesday.

The appointment was effective on Tuesday, one source confirmed. Yahoo China’s former general manager, Tian Jian, is now vice president of Alibaba’s M&A department and will be in charge of the company’s strategic investment and acquisitions.

Yahoo Inc.’s (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) main China business consists of a 40 percent stake in Alibaba.com that it bought last year for $1 billion. As part of the landmark deal, Yahoo Inc. folded its previous China business into Alibaba. (Additional reporting by George Chen)

Jack Gao appointed Star China CEO, News Corp. VP

Star has appointed Dr. Jack Gao as its CEO of Star China. Gao will officially join Star in November 2006, and will report to Star CEO Michelle Guthrie.
Based in Beijing, Gao will be in charge of Star’s overall business interests in China. He will be responsible for developing strategic and business directions while also overseeing Star China’s day-to-day operations.

Gao has also been appointed VP of News Corporation and will assume the position of chief representative of the News Corporation Beijing representative office, responsible for running News Corporation’s activities in China, informs an official release.

Commenting on Gao’s appointment, Guthrie said, “Jack’s insights to the China market, combined with his wealth of networking and business experience, and a proven track-record of success, make him a unique fit to lead our businesses and growth initiatives in China. We are fortunate to have attracted him to join us.”

“Bringing on someone of Jack’s caliber to lead our China operations underscores Star and News Corporation’s commitment to this important market. As we expand aggressively into the digital media space, Jack’s technology background and experience in running businesses for multinationals such as Microsoft and Autodesk in China will serve as important assets in taking us to the next stage of our development in China,” Guthrie continued.

Gao said, “With China poised for sustained and strong economic growth in the years ahead, a tremendous number of opportunities for dynamic and progressive companies such as Star and News Corporation will continue to open up. I am thrilled at the opportunity to apply my experience in China to Star and News Corporation’s businesses and look forward to working with Michelle and the rest of the talented team at Star and News Corporation in seizing growth opportunities in this exciting marketplace.”

Prior to joining Star, Gao served for more than three years as Apac Emerging Geography VP for Autodesk Inc., where he was responsible for strategy, marketing and sales, product research and development, government and public relations, investments, human resources, finance and administration operations in Greater China and India. Before that, Gao was general partner of Walden International, a leading venture capital firm in the USA. Between 1999 and 2002, Gao was president and general manager of Microsoft (China) Co. Ltd. Prior to joining Microsoft, Gao spent five years with Autodesk, as regional director, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mainland China, the release adds.

Gao holds doctorate, master and bachelor degrees in engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Harbin Institute of Technology in China.

EA Names New Asia President

Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) China president Erick Hachkenburg resigned in early September, reports 21st Century Business Herald. The newly named EA Asia president Hubert Larenaudie will replace Hachkenburg. Larenaudie was the president of Vivendi Universal Games Asia prior to joining EA. According to rumors, The9 (Nasdaq: NCTY) is the front runner to license EA’s FIFA soccer due to Larenaudie’s close relationship with The9 during his tenure at Vivendi. [Some online versions of the report were missing a paragraph, which may lead to the wrong assumption that EA will license its racing game Tales Runner to The9. .ed]

Ex-Motorola China head joins Pepsi to sell cola

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Former China president of mobile phone maker Motorola Inc. Daniel Shih has joined PepsiCo Inc. to help the U.S. company to sell its cola products in China, industry sources said on Thursday. Shih is now the president for Pepsi’s beverages business in China, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters, a market where Pepsi is facing tough competition from its U.S. rival, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co.

Shih, a Taiwan-born Amercian, joined Pepsi before the week-long Chinese National Day holiday last week and will report to Zhu Huaxu, current China chairman of Pepsi, the sources said.

“Shih will be working very closely with Zhu and finally Shih will take over all Zhu’s posts, becoming his successor,” said one Beijing-based source close to Pepsi.

Shih, who left Motorola late last year, will take over Pepsi’s China operations in the second quarter of 2007, when Zhu plans to retire after working for Pepsi for nearly a decade in China, the second source said.

Multinational corporations, from global banks to toy makers, have poured tens of billions of dollars in the past few years into China, the world’s fourth-largest economy where personal savings have reached a total of roughly $2 trillion.

Global chief executives have long complained that a shortage of senior industry talent may be the biggest challenge that companies face in China. Foreign firms see China work experience and language skills as vital when hiring senior executives.

The first source said Pepsi’s Zhu first brought up the idea of retirement with management late last year, after which Pepsi began to cast around for a successor.

“Pepsi is a big multinational corporation in China, so it needs some time to assure the handover … will be done very smoothly,” said the source, adding that profit margins in China’s beverage sector may be larger than in its electronic industry.

Wal-Mart appoints new head of China retail ops

SHANGHAI (XFN-ASIA) – Ed Chan has been appointed head of Wal-Mart Stores Inc”s China retail operations business, succeeding Joe Hatfield, the company said in a statement.
Chan, who will be president and chief executive of Wal-Mart China, comes to the company from Dairy Farm Group where he was regional director of North Asia, it said.
He will join Wal-Mart next month and take over leadership of the China retail operations in February, the company said.
Wal-Mart China now has 66 retail units in 34 cities employing 36,000 associates.
It has been widely reported that the company is seeking to acquire Taiwan-owned retailer Trust-Mart, although the companies have not yet commented on such a deal.
Such an acquisition would propel the US retailer ahead of France”s Carrefour as the largest foreign-owned retail chain
In the statement Wal-Mart vice chairman Michael Duke said Chan would be tasked with expanding the company”s China business.
“Ed brings extensive retail experience that will help us expand our growth momentum in this important market,” said Duke.

Morgan Stanley star analyst Andy Xie resigns

BEIJING (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley’s star Asia Pacific economist, Andy Xie, has resigned and is expected to embark on a new career elsewhere, the U.S. investment bank and an industry source said on Sunday.

Xie, whose widely-read reports on the Chinese economy have boosted Morgan Stanley’s image in the region, tendered his resignation last week and had left the firm as of Friday, said Hong Kong-based spokeswoman Po-ling Cheung.

“An internal memo was sent out (on Friday) informing employees that he has resigned from the firm,” she said by telephone.

“He has left the firm,” she added.

Xie confirmed the news by telephone, but declined to say what he would do next.

A source close to Morgan Stanley said that Xie would likely join another firm in the industry in the near future.

Shanghai Leader Chen Liangyu Sacked!

When living in Shanghai for quite some years, I did have a positive impress at Mr. Chen Liangyu, then vice-Mayor, mayor & later the city General Secretary of Party. Now when I am reading news titles from the subscribed RSS, I learned he was dismissed by being accused of violating discipline and law [links to Xinhua (in Chinese) or to BBC (in English)]. Snips of AP report seemly have other aspects of the case.

Shanghai is a bastion of Hu’s predecessor, Jiang Zemin, and Chen’s removal could be part of a strategy to weaken rivals in the collective leadership for Hu to better position himself and the allies he wants to maneuver into place.

Chen was viewed as a Jiang protege and therefore an ally in the former leader’s attempts to wield influence even in retirement. He reportedly clashed with Premier Wen Jiabao over Beijing’s efforts to cool economic growth, lobbying instead for ambitious infrastructure projects for China’s wealthiest and most populous city.

“It’s a serious warning to corrupt officials and to those who don’t toe the party line,” said Joseph Cheng, director of the Contemporary China Research Center at Hong Kong’s City University.

Major reshuffles of local leaders are planned for many areas ahead of the congress, the Beijing-linked Hong Kong newspaper Wei Wei Po reported Monday. It said local leaders who have defied Beijing’s economic policies would be singled out.

With his protector Jiang now descending into political obscurity, Chen could face a lengthy jail term or other harsh punishments.

“Sacking Chen shows that Jiang has no power to protect his proteges and is in no position to affect the choice of new leaders,” said City University’s Cheng.

Chen was last seen in public on Friday at a meeting of chief justices from China, Russia and four Central Asian states. Mayor Han also attended, but neither man spoke in public.

It was unclear what impact, if any, the scandal may have on Vice Premier Huang Ju, the most senior leader in the Shanghai faction and sixth-highest ranking Communist Party official.

Huang disappeared from the political scene early this year amid reports that he had cancer. But in recent months he has made a number of public appearances.

Heidrick & Struggles Adds New Partner to Singapore Office

CHICAGO, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSII), the world’s premier executive search and leadership consulting firm, today announced that Karen Choy-Xavier has joined the firm’s Singapore office as a Partner in the Industrial and Technology practices. Choy-Xavier will focus on building relationships with Southeast Asia-based businesses and on the placement of chief information officers with companies operating throughout the region.

“With the hiring of Karen, we have doubled our consultant teams in Singapore to six in the past eight months,” said Charles Moore, Managing Partner, Singapore. “With her extensive background in executive search, Karen is a significant hire for Heidrick & Struggles in Asia, particularly given our growing market share in the region.”

Choy-Xavier has 18 years of experience in executive search. Her depth of focus with companies based in Singapore and across Asia Pacific is highly regarded, particularly in the technology, industrial and consumer spaces. Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, Choy-Xavier spent 10 years with Spencer Stuart as a Partner. Her network of contacts and relationships in Asia Pacific has served her well, exemplified by her numerous senior-level placements within both locally based and Fortune 500 companies.

Choy-Xavier’s formative years were spent in sales and marketing for technology pioneers Wang and Digital Equipment. She holds bachelor’s degrees in computer science and psychology from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and speaks fluent Mandarin, Cantonese, Malay and English.

About Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.

Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. is the world’s premier provider of senior-level executive search and leadership consulting services, including talent management, board building, executive on-boarding and M&A effectiveness. For more than 50 years we have focused on quality service and built strong leadership teams through our relationships with clients and individuals worldwide. Today, our leadership experts operate from principal business centers in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information about Heidrick & Struggles, please visit http://www.heidrick.com . SOURCE Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. Local, Jennifer Tow of Manifesto Ltd, +1-852-2526-1972, jennifer@manifesto.com.hk , or Corporate, Christina Stratinsky of Heidrick & Struggles International, +1-312-496-1646, cstratinsky@heidrick.com

China’s Lenovo Welcomes 4th Former Dell Executive in Eight Days

BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) — Chinese computer giant Lenovo announced Thursday the recruitment of a fourth former executive of Dell, the world’s largest personal computer maker, in just eight days.

Christopher J. Askew, former vice president of Dell, joined Lenovo as senior vice president in charge of the service department.

Before joining in Lenovo, Askew has been in charge of Dell’s service in Asia-Pacific region and Japan.

Lenovo said on Aug. 17 that former president of Dell China David Miller had joined as president of its Asia Pacific operations. Miller, also senior vice president of Lenovo, will be based in Singapore.

The company has also named Sotaro Amanoas president of Lenovo Japan. Amanoas was formerly corporate director of Dell’s home and business sales division in Japan.

On Aug. 21, the Chinese company announced former Dell senior vice president David Schmoock had joined as senior vice president in charge of a new center of excellence on market evaluation and strategy.

Before taking the position, David Schmoock was in charge of Dell’s marketing in Asia-Pacific and Japan.

The participation of the four senior executives is considered a strong move by Lenovo CEO William Amelio to strengthen the company’s business in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Lenovo appointed Amelio as CEO to replace Stephen Ward last December, the latter being in the position for only eight months.

Lenovo announced in the first half its sales reached 3.5 billion U.S. dollars, up 38 percent from the same period of last year.

The company’s year-on-year sale growth of personal computers is 12 percent, with the sales in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding China, up 3 percent, in America up six percent and in Europe, the Middle East and Africa down 12 percent.

(c) 2006 Xinhua News Agency – CEIS. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Source: Xinhua News Agency – CEIS

Former QDI executive to join China-based SVA-NEC

Carrie Yu, DigiTimes.com, Taipei [Tuesday 22 August 2006]

Chen Jin-zhi, former vice president of Quanta Display’s (QDI) manufacturing department, will lead a team of factory directors and engineers from QDI to join China’s Shanghai SVA-NEC Liquid Crystal Display (SVA-NEC), with Chen to be the first vice president at SVA-NEC that comes from Taiwan, according to the Chinese-language Apple Daily.

Chen had been appointed special assistant at AU Optronics (AUO) to help in the preparation for the merger between QDI and AUO, which will completed in October of this year. He was recently reported by the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) to have already stopped working at QDI.

AUO declined to comment on the news.

SVA-NEC will work with Japan’s Fujifilm for a fifth-generation (5G) color filter (CF) plant, according to the Chinese-language Commercial Times.

The China-based panel maker has technology support from Japan’s NEC and is currently operating a 5G TFT LCD plant, with a maximum monthly capacity of 90,000 glass substrates.

SVA-NEC accounted for 41% of the 15-inch monitor panel market and continued to become the number-one supplier in this segment in June, according to WitsView Technology.