Government officials have shaken up the ranks at China Mobile, which has the world’s largest wireless subscriber base.
Media reports indicate the Chinese government has promoted Li Yue as general manager of China Mobile, displacing current manager and CEO Wang Jianzhou.
Jianzhou will be the chairman of China Mobile’s newly-formed board of directors and will become the party secretary of China Mobile’s state-owned parent company, China Mobile Communications Corp.
The move came after China’s state assets supervision and administration commission ordered government-owned subsidiary companies to set up a board of directors with chairman and CEO/general manager roles, according to reports from the Financial Times. It is unclear whether the country’s two other top carriers face similar changes under the rules.
Jianzhou, 61, has passed the mandatory retirement age for government employees but is reported to have denied rumors that he will retire. He joined China Mobile in 2004 when the government moved him from China Unicom.