Asia Real Estate People in the News 2020-03-16

In this week’s edition of People in the News, CBRE’s Beijing managing director and head of advisory and transaction services has left the property consultancy after almost 23 years to move on to an as-yet unrevealed opportunity.

In other moves around the region, Hong Kong-listed business park operator Yida Holdings has suspended an executive director following his detention for embezzlement, while mainland China online property listings platform fangDD has created a pair of new senior leadership roles just four months after raising $78 million in the company’s NASDAQ IPO.

There were also fresh appointments at Poly Development and Holdings, Greenland Hong Kong Holdings, and at corporate services provider Alter Domus.

Virginia Huang has left CBRE in Beijing after serving as managing director and head of advisory and transaction services for Greater China since 2016, according to her LinkedIn profile. Huang is moving on to an as-yet unrevealed opportunity following nearly 23 years with the property consultancy, having joined the firm in 1997. Huang had been appointed head of advisory and transaction services four years ago, after being promoted to managing director of the Beijing office in 2013.

Yida Holdings has suspended the duties and powers of executive director Chen Donghui, following his detention for suspected embezzlement, according to a stock exchange disclosure. Chen has also been removed from the board of SRE Group, where he had been serving as an executive director of the real estate development subsidiary of financially troubled China Minsheng Investment Group (CMIG). SRE Group’s chairman Peng Xinkuang has also been charged and detained on the same grounds.

Han Sun has been appointed as executive director of Poly Global Capital and chair of Poly USA, after two years as Poly Australia’s chief financial officer, according to Sun’s LinkedIn profile. Sun had moved to Poly’s Australia branch in 2015 as a financial manager, following a year in Poly’s Guangzhou office in the international business department. The Macquarie University graduate had also served as a senior manager in Poly’s Xi’an office from 2012 to 2015.

Co-founder of online property listings platform FangDD, Xi Zeng, has been promoted to co-chief executive officer, after serving as the company’s director and chief operating officer since 2011. In his new role, the Suzhou University of Science and Technology graduate will oversee company strategies with a focus on hitting growth targets. His counterpart, co-CEO Yi Duan, will focus on strategy development, product innovation, corporate governance, and capital market activities. Prior to co-founding FangDD, Zeng was a manager at Suzhou Best Team Real Estate Cooperation Services from 2002 to 2010.

Jiaorong Pan has been promoted to FangDD’s chief financial officer, stepping up after nine years as senior vice president. In her new role, Pan will steer the company’s ongoing efforts to deliver profitable growth. Prior to joining FangDD in 2011 as a member of the company’s core founding team, Pan was a general manager at Suzhou Huamei Enterprise Marketing Planning Company. The Suzhou University of Science and Technology graduate served as a manager for the consulting department of Best Team Real Estate Comprehension Services between 2003 and 2009.

Lee Lam has been appointed as an independent non-executive director of Greenland Hong Kong Hong Kong Holdings with effect from 13 March, according to a stock exchange disclosure. Lam is the chairman of Hong Kong Cyberport Management, a government enterprise which manages the Cyberport project on the island’s south side. Lam also serves as non-executive chairman for the Hong Kong and ASEAN Region at Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Asia (MIRA), in addition to serving on the boards and committees of numerous companies, funds and non-governmental organisations.

Bonnie Tam has been promoted to team leader with the Greater China unit of Alter Domus’ real estate services division in Hong Kong, after nearly three years as the financial services firm’s head of propco operations in Asia Pacific. Prior to joining Alter Domus, Tam had served as a senior manager at Macquarie Real Estate Investment from 2006 to 2017. The University of Hong Kong graduate had also served as a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers from 2000 to 2006.

If you know of other Asia real estate professionals changing their jobs, getting promoted or just doing something exciting, please contact us here at Mingtiandi.