Chinalco appoints mayor of Chengdu as new chairman
Aluminum Corp of China has turned to a politician who has been out of the industry for more than a decade to head up the nation's biggest producer, naming the mayor of Chengdu as its chairman.
Aluminum Corp of China has turned to a politician who has been out of the industry for more than a decade to head up the nation's biggest producer, naming the mayor of Chengdu as its chairman.
Ge Honglin replaces Xiong Weiping, whose five-year tenure as head of the state-run company known as Chinalco ends with a top executive embroiled in a corruption probe and the company's listed unit, Chalco, posting a first-half loss of 4.12 billion yuan (HK$5.2 billion) due to lower aluminium prices.
Ge has been mayor of Chengdu in Sichuan province since 2003. His appointment was announced at Chinalco's Beijing headquarters by Wang Jingqing, a vice-minister of the Central Organisation Department of the Communist Party, according to a statement on the firm's website.
Ge served in the steel industry in Shanghai from 1984 to 2001 before moving into politics, according to a resume posted by Xinhua.
Yuan Li, a Beijing-based spokesman at Chinalco, did not respond to requests for comment.
Company officials have fallen foul of the government's campaign against corruption, with general manager Sun Zhaoxue, Chinalco's No2 executive, investigated for graft last month. Last year, Li Dongguang, a former vice-president in charge of Chalco's international trading unit, resigned amid a probe.
Chalco's loss contrasts with Rusal, the world's largest aluminium producer, which in August reported its first profit in five quarters. Alcoa in July also posted profits which were better than expected.
