Next ICBC chairman set to lead world biggest bank’s transformational strategy through to 2024
Yi Huiman, president of ICBC since 2013, is expected to be appointed the bank’s next chairman, pending formal approval from state leaders
The new chairman-designate at Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, Yi Huiman, looks set to deepen ICBC’s push into digital banking as well as strengthen its “for-profit” focus, in a clear distinction from the “national duty” expected of state-owned banks, say analysts who have followed Yi’s career and leadership changes at the world’s largest bank.
At the bank’s annual general meeting in Hong Kong next month, analysts say shareholders will be presented with a new three-year and long-term strategy that Yi will oversee to transform ICBC’s outlook through to 2024.
Officials at ICBC confirmed to the South China Morning Post on Tuesday that the 52-year-old Yi, president of the bank since 2013, on Monday received a form
al appointment to the bank’s party secretary role. The move is a gesture that would formally seal his official candidacy to become the bank’s next chairman, pending formal approval from state leaders.
Yi will replace the bank’s long-serving and outspoken maverick chairman Jiang Jianqing, 63, who has been in the position since 2000 and made it his business to focus on profits as a priority even in the face of state pressure.
“It is Yi’s role now to continue that legacy. He has made his mark at ICBC by helping to shape the e-banking and internet banking strategy,” said a Hong Kong-based analyst who requested anonymity.