ABB today announced that Zhiqiang Zhang has been appointed Managing Director of ABB in China. He succeeds Chunyuan Gu who has held this role in addition to his roles as Chairman of ABB China and President of the Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region. The appointment will be effective October 1, 2018. Dr. Gu, a member of the ABB Executive Committee, will remain Chairman of ABB China and President of the AMEA region.
Zhang, a Chinese citizen, has extensive management experience and a deep understanding of the Chinese market, developed during his career at several large global companies over the past three decades. He joins ABB from Sandvik where he was Asia-Pacific Regional Holding Officer and President of Sandvik China. Prior to that, he held leadership positions at several other companies, including Nokia Siemens Networks, where he was President of the Greater China Region, and Siemens VDO Automotive, China, where he was President and CEO.
Commenting on Zhang’s appointment, Dr. Gu said: “Zhiqiang Zhang is a tremendous leader with extraordinary experience and expertise in building and driving major businesses across Asia, and I welcome him to ABB. I look forward to working closely with Zhang and our great team in continuing to grow ABB’s operations, expanding our pioneering technologies and strengthening our leadership in industrial digitalization across China and the region.”
Zhang will build on Dr. Gu’s successful track record as MD of ABB China. During Dr. Gu’s near five-year tenure, ABB China significantly strengthened its market position, and increased its local R&D and manufacturing footprint. Today, ABB employs more than 18,000 people in China and more than 90 percent of its solutions sold in the country are locally produced.
Zhang holds a bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering from Beijing Jiaotong University, China, and a master’s degree in business administration from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. He is fluent in English, German and Mandarin. In his new position, Zhang will report to Chunyuan Gu, and will be based in Beijing.
ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a pioneering technology leader in power grids, electrification products, industrial automation and robotics and motion, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally. Continuing a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalization with two clear value propositions: bringing electricity from any power plant to any plug and automating industries from natural resources to finished products. As title partner in ABB Formula E, the fully electric international FIA motorsport class, ABB is pushing the boundaries of e-mobility to contribute to a sustainable future. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 147,000 employees. www.abb.com
