Anny Zhang Named JLL China CEO as Bessie Lee Departs Company

JLL has promoted Anny Zhang to CEO for China, with the company veteran succeeding Bessie Lee in the top mainland role at the global real estate consultancy.

Based in Shanghai, Zhang takes the helm at the mainland China business on 1 September after steadily progressing into more senior roles since joining the firm as a manager in 2007, JLL said in a release. She reports to Asia Pacific chief executive Anthony Couse and is expected to play a “pivotal role” in driving growth, nurturing client relationships and strengthening the agency’s position in the region’s biggest property market.

“I am delighted that Anny is taking on this important leadership role for our business in China,” Couse said. “She has built a fantastic career at JLL, taking on increasing levels of responsibility over her 17 years with the firm.”

After three years as China boss, Lee is leaving JLL in August to spend more time with her family in Britain, JLL said. As part of the leadership change, the current managing director for Hong Kong and Macau, Alex Barnes, will take on additional responsibility for JLL’s Taiwan business.

Climbing the Ladder

Zhang became JLL’s managing director for East China in 2021 to replace the departing Eddie Ng, who had served as managing director for Chengdu and then managing director for West China before moving to Shanghai to take over the East China business in 2016, when former Shanghai chief Couse was named APAC CEO.

In 2023, Zhang was elevated to head of JLL’s China leasing business, putting her in charge of the firm’s leasing work across the office, industrial and retail sectors. In the role she has helped drive tech initiatives such as DiChanDaDang, an online office leasing marketplace.

Before joining JLL, Zhang worked as a commercial office leasing agent at DTZ Debenham Tie Leung (now part of Cushman & Wakefield) for three years. She is a 2004 graduate of Shanghai’s East China Normal University.

“As China’s economy develops, there are huge opportunities to leverage our technology solutions and global scale to help Chinese and multinational clients buy, build, occupy, manage and invest in real estate,” Zhang said. “I look forward to engaging with clients and colleagues as we identify new growth opportunities.”

VC Exec Bows Out

Venture capital executive Lee has served as JLL’s Greater China CEO since 2021, when she succeeded KK Fung as he assumed his current role of chairman. Her hiring coincided with a tech-driven transformation launched by the Chicago-based firm at the time.

Lee’s career includes more than three decades in the marketing and advertising industry at various companies within the WPP group in China. She served as chief executive of WPP China from 2013 to 2017, managing 14,000 employees and over $1 billion in annual revenue.

Lee has continued to run Withinlink, a venture capital firm she founded, after concurrently leading WPP and Withinlink from 2015 to 2017. Shanghai-based Withinlink is a strategic investor and incubator of marketing technology startups in China.