China Resources Land Names Tang Yong as New CEO, Reshuffles Board

China’s 11th largest real estate developer in terms of sales, China Resources Land announced a reshuffle of its executive suite Tuesday evening with the appointment of Tang Yong（唐勇）as chief executive officer of the Hong Kong-listed company, Li Xin as the president and Zhang Dawei as vice chairman of the board.

The Shenzhen-based developer also appointed Shen Tongdong as an executive director on its board and a member of the executive committee. Meanwhile, the company’s chief financial officer, Yu Jian, has resigned from his roles as CFO and executive director with the twenty-four-year-old subsidiary of central government-controlled China Resources Holdings.

The upheaval in the leadership of the state-run builder is reported to be at the behest of its red-chip parent concern, and comes despite the developer having better than expected 2018 interim financial results, when it reported a net profit margin of 48 percent on its core business.

Turnover Rumours Confirmed

Today’s announcement confirms months of rumour concerning China Resources Land’s leadership and came one day after local media accounts reported that China Resources Land’s state-owned parent had “suggested” to the developer, in a notice dated November 22, that Wu Xiangdong no longer serve as chief executive officer.

The statement by China Resources Land, without mentioning Wu, specifies that Tang Yong will take over from the top executive role while giving up his current duties as vice chairman of the board.

Wu, who had served as the developer’s chairman from mid-2013 through 2014, had never formally been designated as the company’s CEO, had been helming the firm since 2014 despite the title change. The company veteran currently retains his role as an executive director of the China Resources Land as well as serving as vice president of China Resources Holdings.

Also on Tuesday, top ten mainland builder China Fortune Land Development (CFLD) announced that Yu Jian, freshly departed from China Resources Land’s CFO role, will be joining the Beijing-based developer as co-president to take charge of finance and fund-raising activities for the top ten mainland homebuilder. Local media reports have suggested that Wu Xiangdong would also be leaving the China Resources Group to join CFLD.

Ping An Accused of Poaching

Yu Jian’s defection to CFLD, along with reports of Wu Xiangdong’s move to China Resources Land’s Beijing-based rival, come within months of CFLD receiving significant new backing from Shenzhen-based Ping An Insurance.

In July of this year Ping An paid RMB 13.8 billion ($2 billion) to purchase 19.7 percent of CFLD, making it the developer’s second-largest shareholder, as well as giving it seats on the company’s board.

Just last month CFLD founder and CEO Wang Wenxue declared that, with Ping An’s support, the developer, which ranked ninth in China last year by contracted sales, is aiming to become one of the country’s three largest developers.

Group Veteran Grabs the Controls at CR Land

Forty six-year-old Tang Yong joined China Resources Holdings in 1993 and had worked for the group’s property management arm for more than 10 years. He has been leading the board of China Resources Land as vice chairman and had been responsible for the day-to-day operations of the group since Wu Xiangdong resigned as chairman four years ago.

In his 25-year career at China Resources Wu first climbed the ladder in the parent firm where he was appointed as senior vice president of China Resources (Shenzhen) and later became executive director of China Resources Land.

China Resources Land had launched an organizational reshuffle in 2016, where the core management comprised the trio of Tang Yong as the executive vice chairman and both Li Xin and Zhang Dawei as co-presidents. This latest leadership change brings with it the abolition of the co-president structure.