Sunac China Names Former Baoneng, Poly Exec as New CEO

Hong Kong-listed developer Sunac China Holdings has selected former Baoneng Group senior vice president Yu Ying as its new chief executive officer, according to a report in mainland news site The Paper.

The change in leadership at the top five mainland developer was confirmed by executives at Sunac, according to the media account, although the company has yet to announce the shift to the Hong Kong exchange. Long-time Sunac veteran Wang Mengde was named CEO of the developer in September 2015, and was still listed just below founder and chairman Sun Hongbin on the company roster when it issued its interim report in September of this year.

New Hire to Focus on Southern China

In his new role, Yu will be focused on real estate investment development in the Guangzhou and Shenzhen metropolitan areas for the Tianjin-based company and work closely with Huang Shuping, who heads Sunac’s Guangzhou and Shenzhen operations, the report said.

Yu in early December resigned his position with Baoneng, where he had been focused on transitioning the company from the traditional model of high turnover real estate sales into more industry-specific sales, such as developing new energy automobile industrial parks. Yu last appeared on behalf of Baoneng at an industry event on November 21st, where he stressed the importance of innovation in the industry.

Sunac, run by mainland tycoon Sun Hongbin, in 2017 added Dalian Wanda’s tourism projects and hotels to its investment portfolio in a $9.3 billion deal — part of which was confirmed only this past October — in what was reportedly the second-biggest real estate transaction ever in China.

Yu had joined Baoneng in November 2017 after serving as vice president of Guangzhou-based Poly Real Estate. Prior to that, he worked as a director at the Guangzhou Planning Bureau and as deputy director of the Shenyang Municipal Committee of urban and rural construction.

He is a graduate of South China University of Technology, where he received his master’s and doctoral degrees in architecture. He has also served as a visiting professor at Northwestern Polytechnical University and Gansu University of Technology.