Sinopec Corp, China's largest producer and marketer of oil products, has appointed Wang Tianpu as its new president.

Former president Wang Jiming, more than 60, retired, but will remain vice chairman of the board of directors, according to the company, which is listed in Hong Kong, New York, London and Shanghai.

"This is a normal leadership reshuffle. It's a normal case of younger people succeeding senior ones," said Chen Tonghai, chairman of Sinopec Group, which holds the controlling stake in Sinopec Corp.

The new president was born in 1962. He has received college education in organic chemistry, master of business administration education and doctoral studies in chemical engineering.

Sinopec has 86.7 billion shares, 55.06 percent of which are held by the state through Sinopec Group, 22.36 percent by domestic banks and assets management companies, 19.35 percent by foreign investors and 3.23 percent by domestic investors, according to the company's website.

The company is also China's No. 1 supplier of major petrochemical products and the second largest crude oil producer. It produced 38.16 million tons of crude oil, 5.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2003.

Announcement of the company's annual results in 2004 has been scheduled for March 29 in Hong Kong.

Source: Xinhua