Ning Gaoning

In this Chinese name, the family name is Ning.
Ning Gaoning
宁高宁
Born (1958-11-09) 9 November 1958 (age 66)
Binzhou, Shandong, China
Other namesFrank Ning
Alma materUniversity of Pittsburgh
Shandong University
OccupationManufacturing executive
Years active1987–present
TitleChairman of Syngenta
Political partyChinese Communist Party
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese宁高宁
Traditional Chinese寧高寧
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinNìng Gāoníng

Ning Gaoning (Chinese: 宁高宁; born 9 November 1958), also known as Frank Ning, is a Chinese manufacturing executive.

In 2023, he resigned as chairman of Sinochem, remaining chairman of Syngenta.[1]

Biographical details

He was born in Binzhou, Shandong on 9 November 1958. He graduated from Shandong University and earned an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh's Katz School of Business in 1987. During his career at China Resources (Huarun), he led over 30 major M&As to make China Resources one of the largest food conglomerate in China. He also served as the Chairman of state-owned China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO). Currently, he is the Chairman of the Sinochem Group. He is also the Chairman of Hong Kong Building and Loan Agency Limited and Deputy Chairman of China Vanke company Limited. Ning has been recognized five times as one of the 25 most influential business leaders by Chinese Entrepreneur magazine.[2] In 2009, Ning was named Asia Business Leader of the Year by CNBC Asia Pacific.[3] In November 2012 Ning was elected as a member of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

In January 2016 he was succeeded as COFCO's head by Zhao Shuanglian.[4]

Ning was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Syngenta on 16 July 2018.[5]

When ChemChina's chairman Ren Jianxin retired in July 2018, Ning was appointed chairman of ChemChina, while retaining his chairmanship of Sinochem Group.[6] In September 2020 he confirmed that ChemChina and Sinochem Group were discussing a merger. At the time, he was chairman of both companies.[7] As a consequence of his resignation on October 8, 2022 from Sinochem holdings, Pirelli & C. S.p.A. announced he'd also resigned from all roles held on the company's board of directors.[8] In March 2023, he was succeeded as chairman of Sinochem Holdings by Li Fanrong. Ning remained chairman of Syngenta.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Liu, Pearl (September 12, 2022), China looks to career engineer Li Fanrong to steer Syngenta's US$10 billion Shanghai IPO, South China Morning Post, retrieved April 14, 2023
  2. ^ Lynn Shea and Brittney Gillison, University names 12 new legacy laureates, University Times, University of Pittsburgh, Oct 27, 2008, accessdate=10-31-2008
  3. ^ "Pitt Alumnus Frank Gaoning Ning Named Asia Business Leader of Year". Pitt Chronicle. Vol. 10, no. 33. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh. 2009-12-07. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  4. ^ Yap, Chuin-Wei (January 5, 2016), China Names Zhao Shuanglian as Cofco Chairman, Replacing Ning Gaoning, The Wall Street Journal, retrieved April 14, 2023
  5. ^ "Changes to the Syngenta Board of Directors". Business Wire. 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
  6. ^ China names Sinochem Chairman Ning as ChemChina chairman, Reuters, July 13, 2018, retrieved April 14, 2023
  7. ^ Fukumoto, Yuki (September 3, 2020), China forges ahead with $146bn chemical megamerger, Nikkei Asia, retrieved April 14, 2023
  8. ^ Pirelli to appoint Li Fanrong as chairman since Ning Gaoning has resigned, Economic Times, October 10, 2022, retrieved April 14, 2023
Business positions
Preceded by
Zhou Mingchen (周明臣)
 Chairman of COFCO Group
2004–2016 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of Sinochem
2016–2018 		Succeeded by
?
Preceded by Chairman of ChemChina
2018–2022 		Succeeded by
Position revoked