Leadership Change at Food Giant Clouds Company's Future

(Beijing) – Investors are closely watching a leadership reshuffle going on at the country's largest state-owned food and agricultural conglomerate, fearing it may derail the company's global expansion plans.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), the agency that oversees public assets, recently appointed Ning Gaoning, chairman of China National Cereal, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp. (COFCO), to run the country's fourth-largest oil company. Ning will take over from long-serving Sinochem Corp. chairman Liu Deshu, 63, who has to step down after reaching the mandatory retirement age.