Beijing, China - July 5, 2012, Beijing, China - Li Ning Company Limited, a sport brands company, announced that Zhang Zhiyong has stepped down as the group's chief executive officer.
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At the same time, Mr. Zhang has also ceased to be a member of the Executive Committee of the Board. He will continue to serve as an Executive Director and chief advisor to the Group's Executive Committee.
Mr. Zhang joined the Group in October 1992 as a finance manager of Beijing Li Ning Footwear Co., became the financial controller of Beijing Li Ning Sports Goods Co. in April 1999 and was the general manager of the company from February 2001 to June 2004. Since the listing of the Company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2004 to 4 July 2012, Mr. Zhang was the Company's Chief Executive Officer.
Since 1992 when he began his career in the sporting goods industry in China, Mr. Zhang has accumulated 20 years of China experience in the industry with thorough understanding of the change of the consumer market in China, the building of brand images and change management for Chinese firms. Mr. Zhang holds a bachelor's degree from Beijing College of Economics and an executive M.B.A. degree from Guanghua School of Management of Peking University.
The company also announced that it will be led by Li Ning, founder and Executive Chairman, and Jin-Goon Kim, Executive Vice Chairman. Mr. Li will focus primarily on external affairs, and Mr. Kim will be primarily responsible for internal affairs and operations.
Mr. Li Ning is one of the most outstanding athletes in the 20th century. In the 6th World Cup Gymnastics Competition in 1982, Mr. Li won six gold medals in men's artistic gymnastics events and was named the "Prince of Gymnastics" in the PRC. In the 23rd Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, Mr. Li won three gold, two silver and one bronze medals, making him the athlete winning the most medals of that Olympic Games.
In 1987, Mr. Li became the only Asian member of the Athlete's Commission of the International Olympic Committee. From 1993 to 2000, Mr. Li served as a member of the Men's Artistic Gymnastics Technical Committee of the Federation Internationale De Gymnastique. He is currently an honorary member of the Federation Internationale De Gymnastique. In 1999, Mr. Li was voted one of the "World's Most Excellent Athletes in the 20th Century" by the World Sports Correspondent Association.
Mr. Kim joined the Group in April 2012. He is a partner of TPG and a member of the firm's Operations Group. TPG is a leading global private investment firm and an affiliate of TPG Stallion Holdings, which has substantial interests in the bonds and shares of the Company. Mr. Kim leads TPG's Operations Group in Greater China, managing operations and serving on the board of several of its portfolio companies.
From December 2007 to January of 2011, Mr. Kim was an executive director and interim chief executive officer and he is currently the vice chairman of the board of China Grand Automotive Service Co. As a director of the board, Mr. Kim led the turnaround of UniTrust Finance & Leasing Corporation, he is also a non-executive director of the board of Daphne International Holdings Limited.
Prior to joining TPG, Mr. Kim worked for Dell as the managing director of its Korea business from 2002 to 2006. Prior to that from 2000 to 2002, Mr. Kim was vice president of Internet Business Capital Corporation in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and from 1996 to 2000, he was the engagement manager at McKinsey & Company.
Mr. Kim received his undergraduate degree in Arts majored in Government and East Asian Studies from Harvard University with High Honors, conducted post graduate research in Nanjing-Hopkins Center in China, and returned to Harvard University to pursue his Master of Public Policy.
The company also announced the appointment of Samuel Su as an independent non-executive director. ■