Former chairman of Sinochem Holdings Ning Gaoning retires

Sinochem Holdings recently announced that Ning Gaoning will no longer serve as chairman and party secretary. Li Fanrong became the new top leader of the large state-owned enterprise. The reason? According to industry insiders, Ning Gaoning is about to turn 64 years old and therefore his departure is probably best categorised as official retirement. It is reported that under normal circumstances, the retirement age of the top leaders of China’s central enterprises is 63 years old. From this perspective, Ning Gaoning has already out-worked normal tenure.

Ning Gaoning was born in November 1958. He has experience in the army and overseas study and is famous for his capital operation and enterprise management ability. In 2016, Ning Gaoning became the chairman of Sinochem Group. Two years later, he also served as chairman of China National Chemical Corporation. Under his auspices, the two large enterprises were restructured in 2021 and Sinochem Holdings, with total assets exceeding one trillion yuan, was born.

In the first half of 2022, Sinochem Holdings’ revenue was 584.9 billion yuan (about £72.48 billion, 85.28 billion euros), a year-on-year increase of 11 per cent; and its net profit was 25.2 billion yuan (about £3.12 billion, 3.67 billion euros), a year-on-year increase of 119 per cent. However, the company still has multiple areas to improve.

On 15 July this year, Ning Gaoning emphasised at the work conference that Sinochem Holdings still faces four challenges. First, the integration and collaboration have not been completed. Second, the management mode of overseas enterprises still needs to be further explored. Third, developing high-end talent teams is still much room for improvement. Fourth, the innovation and creativity of professional companies still need to be further improved. Following Ning Gaoning’s retirement, these problems are something his successor Li Fanrong will have to solve.