Country Garden names new co-chairman to beef up leadership

[HONG KONG] Country Garden Holdings named president Mo Bin co-chairman of the board as the embattled Chinese developer restructures leadership after winning court approval for its offshore debt overhaul.

Mo, who has also been an executive director since 2010, will help the board build external strategic relationships, coordinate resource integration and implement group-wide strategies, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday (Dec 4). His appointment became effective on Dec 4.

Chairman Yang Huiyan, who took the helm from her father in 2023, will continue to lead and supervise the board’s operations, the company said. She will also oversee the top-level design of the group’s strategies, while guiding the group’s long-term development direction. Yang held almost 52 per cent of the company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Cheng Guangyu, an executive director, will replace Mo as president, the developer said. Mo remains an executive director.

“With the smooth progress of the offshore debt restructuring, the company is making efforts to restore normal operations,” the developer said in the statement. “The establishment of co-chairman position is conducive to promoting the effective operation of the board to cope with the business challenges.”

Headquartered in the southern city of Foshan, Country Garden was once China’s largest developer by contracted sales. The company defaulted in 2023, dragged down by the country’s prolonging property market slump. After more than two years of restructuring talks, the company received a formal sign-off from a Hong Kong court for its US$14.1 billion offshore debt plan. BLOOMBERG