China Overseas Land chief executive Yan to take on chairman’s mantle
Yan to replace stopgap chairman Xiao Xiao
In a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, the company said Yan will take the mantle from Xiao Xiao, who was named chairman and chief executive in December after the sudden departure of Hao Jianmin in November 2016.
Since Xiao had already reached China Overseas Land’s official retirement age of 60, his appointment was seen a temporary measure till Yan took over as chief executive on January 1. Yan’s appointment as chairman will be effective from June 13.
Prior to rejoining China Overseas Land as chief executive, Yan was executive director and senior vice president at rival developer Longfor Properties. He spent much of his career with China Overseas Land’s parent company China State Construction Engineering Corporation, including two separate stints with China Overseas Land in the early 1990s and also between 2011 and 2014.
In March last year, China Overseas Land inked a deal with Chinese conglomerate CITIC under which it would acquire the latter’s mainland Chinese residential development business for 31 billion yuan (US$449.1 million).