Jeffery Minifang Lu, chairman of Danone’s early life nutrition business in Greater China, has been named CEO of Yashili International Holdings, the Chinese infant formula business controlled by state-owned enterprise Mengniu.

The appointment follows a recommendation from Danone, which had the right to suggest candidates to fill the chief executive post as part of a deal that saw it take a 25% stake in Yashili in November last year.

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In a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Yashili said: “On 30 December 2014, the Yashili board received from Danone Asia a letter of recommendation to appoint Mr. Jeffrey, Minfang Lu as the CEO. Having considered the skills, knowledge and experience of Mr. Lu, the Yashili board considered that it will be in the best interests of the company and the Yashili shareholders as a whole to appoint Mr. Lu as the new CEO.”

Lu has worked at Danone for more than ten years. Prior to this, he spent nine years with Johnson and Johnson in China.

Current Yashili CEO Zhang Lidian will continue to work at the company as a non-executive director and vice-chairman of the Yashili board. He will remain a member of the remuneration committee.

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