Qin Xiao, Board Chairman of Hong Kong-based China Merchants Group, has retired and former company President Fu Yuning has taken over.

Qin, 63, had been chairman of China Merchants Group since 2000. During his tenure, assets of the company jumped from 49.6 billion yuan ($7.29 billion) to 268.28 billion yuan ($39.45 billion) and its annual profit soared from 1.29 billion yuan ($189.85 million) to 17.85 billion yuan ($2.63 billion).

Qin received Ph.D in economics from the University of Cambridge in 2002. He had also served as Chairman of China Merchants Bank Co. Ltd. since 2001. Before being transferred to China Merchants Group, he was vice board chairman and general manager of China International Trust and Investment Corp.

Fu Yuning, 53, with a Ph.D in offshore engineering from Brunel University, UK, became president of China Merchants Group in 2004. He has listed overseas expansion as the company's next priorities.

State-owned China Merchants Group, founded in 1872, is considered the epitome of China's industrial and commercial enterprises of the modern times. It was the earliest developer of Shenzhen, China's first special economic zone established in 1980.