(Yicai Global) May 11 -- Unigroup Guoxin Microelectronics, the listed arm of Chinese chipmaking giant Tsinghua Unigroup, has promoted two executives from subsidiaries as its new president and executive vice president.

Xie Wengang, chairman of Shenzhen State Microelectronics, and Yue Chao, president of Tongxin Microelectronics, were named president and EVP, respectively, after Unigroup Guoxin Chairman Ma Daojie resigned as president, the Beijing-based firm announced yesterday.

Xie and Yue head Unigroup Guoxin’s core units whose main businesses cover special integrated circuits and smart chips respectively, the main sources of revenue for Unigroup Guoxin, an insider at the company said to Yicai Global.

Unigroup Guoxin’s special IC business had revenue of CNY4.7 billion (USD677.7 million) last year, up 40 percent from 2021, with a gross profit margin of nearly 74 percent. It accounted for more than 66 percent of the firm’s total revenue. The smart chip business had revenue of CNY2.1 billion, a 25 percent gain, and a gross profit margin of 46.5 percent. It accounted for 29.2 percent of total income. 

Xie and Yue were at Unigroup Guoxin’s units for a long time and slowly worked their way up, an insider said, adding that promoting from within is better than appointing outsiders.

“Selecting outstanding talent from major subsidiaries to manage the parent company is conducive to its long-term and stable development and can better mobilize its resources and advance the business of the subsidiaries,” the insider noted.

In the future, Ma will likely hold some positions in Tsinghua Unigroup, which will help the parent company better allocate resources to support the development of Unigroup Guoxin, according to the person.

During Ma’s tenure as president, Unigroup Guoxin’s operating revenue soared to CNY7.1 billion last year from CNY1.8 billion in 2017, averaging annual compound growth of 31 percent. Net profit soared more than nine times to CNY2.6 billion in the period.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione