The son of Premier Wen Jiabao has been appointed chairman of China Satellite Communications (China Satcom), a leading mainland telecommunications giant, the latest princeling to take the helm of a major state-owned enterprise.
Winston Wen Yunsong (pictured) replaced Lei Fanpei, an aeronautical engineer, as China Satcom chairman during the company's board meeting last week, the semi-official China News Service reported yesterday.
It is one of the six telecommunications-infrastructure operators on the mainland, with business including both terrestrial and space satellite-operation services. The company has previously said it would have 15 satellites operating by the year 2015, with annual revenue at 16 billion yuan (HK$20 billion).
The young Wen has been the most high-profile princeling to make his name in the private-equity business - an industry that attracts many children of senior government and Communist Party officials, using their connections to make investments in mainland companies planning initial public offerings, and ready to reap handsome profits after their stock market listings.
But his business investments were controversial, not least because his father Wen Jiabao had tried to cultivate an image as the people's premier, endeavouring to reach out to the poor and constantly expressing his indignation against rampant official corruption.
After receiving an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in the United States, Winston Wen started telecommunications-equipment maker Unihub, whose key clients included large banks and securities firms such as Ping An Insurance (Group) and Citic Securities.
Wen later sold the company and turned to private equity.