Mengniu Chairman Substitution What is the origin of Chen Lang who took over the baton?

(Image source: Panorama Vision)

Four months after Yu Xubo became chairman of Mengniu, the president of the Economic Observer Network, Aru Khan, the president of COFCO Group, issued an announcement on the evening of April 29 to appoint a new chairman, who was succeeded by Chen Lang. According to the announcement, Yu Xubo resigned as a non-executive director, chairman of the board of directors, chairman of the nomination committee and chairman of the strategic development committee of Mengniu due to job transfer. Chen Lang was appointed as a non-executive director and chairman of the board of Mengniu.

Who is Chen Lang? At the age of 53, he is currently the Vice President of COFCO Group, a non-executive director and chairman of the board of directors of China Foods, a Hong Kong-listed company, and a director and chairman of COFCO Coca-Cola Beverages Limited and COFCO Coca-Cola Beverage (China) Investment Limited.

In addition, he is also an executive director and chairman of the board of directors of China Resources Beer, a vice chairman of the board of directors and a member of the strategy committee of Shanxi Xinghuacun Fen Distillery Co., Ltd., a director of China Resources Group (Beer) Co., Ltd., a director and chairman of the board of directors of China Resources Ventures Co., Ltd., and the chairman of China Resources Snowflake Beer (China) Investment Co., Ltd.

Judging from Chen Lang's resume, he has a deep background in the "China Resources Department", and before joining COFCO Group, Chen Lang served as the deputy general manager of China Resources (Group) Co., Ltd. until April 2019. In the past, Chen Lang has successively served in China Resources Corporation, China Resources Vanguard, China Resources Wanfeng, China Resources Yibao, China Resources Lizhi and many other China Resources companies.

From China Resources to COFCO, for Chen Lang's job transfer, some market participants analyzed that it was a rotation of people within the central enterprises.

Chen Lang's predecessor, Yu Xubo, was chairman of Mengniu for only four months. In January this year, Ma Jianping resigned as chairman of Mengniu, due to Xubo's replacement. Yu Xubo, a 52-year-old cofco veteran, joined COFCO in 1988 and has been president of COFCO Group Limited since April 2007.

In the eyes of industry insiders familiar with Mengniu, the change of chairman of Mengniu has limited impact on Mengniu, and the largest shareholder, COFCO Group, has played more of a financial manager role for Mengniu. The specific management was handed over to the president Lu Minfang.

As of April 29, COFCO Held 70% of the shares of COFCO Dairy Holdings Limited through its wholly-owned subsidiary. COFCO Dairy Holdings Limited and Caiquan Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of COFCO Group, hold approximately 56.4% and 12.2% of the shares of COFCO Dairy Investment Co., Ltd. respectively. COFCO Dairy Investment Co., Ltd. directly and indirectly holds approximately 31.39% of the shares of Mengniu Dairy. COFCO is the largest shareholder of Mengniu.

A number of industry insiders told reporters that COFCO Group is still the most solid backing of Mengniu, Mengniu's many market mergers and acquisitions, asset adjustments and the determination and implementation of strategic objectives have been supported by COFCO Group, for Mengniu, Chen Lang, the new chairman who has served in a number of FMCG companies, will be a "knowledgeable" chairman, which is beneficial and harmless to Mengniu who is running to the goal of 100 billion.