RISI names Chen Hongguo of Shandong Chenming Paper 2008 Asian CEO of the Year
SHANGHAI, May 20, 2008 - RISI today announced that Shandong Chenming Paper's Chen Hongguo has been selected as the first Asian CEO of the Year for the pulp and paper industry. The award will be presented at RISI's 9th Asian Pulp & Paper Outlook Conference in Shanghai, China to be held on June 2-4, 2008.
Chen Hongguo was chosen as the Asian CEO of the Year by a group of investment analysts and portfolio managers covering the forest products industry. The analysts responded to a survey organized by RISI and the criteria for nomination included leadership, vision and strategic accomplishment. The analysts commented that Shandong Chenming has followed a strong strategic path in recent years and has performed well on a financial basis
Shandong Chenming is a leading Asian pulp and paper company and runs many mills producing a variety of paper and board grades. Like many Chinese pulp and paper producers, the company has rapidly expanded its operations over the past few years and started up the world's largest newsprint machine in December 2006. Among its current expansion plans are a new one million tonne/yr pulp mill to be built in Zhanjiang city, Guangdong province.
Rhiannon James-van Beuningen, Senior Vice President, Media Products, RISI, commented, "We are pleased to give out the inaugural Asian CEO of the year award to Mr. Chen Hongguo. The award recognizes the impact that Chinese companies like Shandong Chenming are having not only on the Asian markets, but also on the global pulp and paper industry."
This is the first year that the prestigious CEO of the Year award has been given to an Asian CEO. Jouko Karvinen, CEO of Stora Enso, was awarded the RISI European CEO of the Year Award in April. The North American and Latin American CEO of the Year Awards will be given out in September and October this year at the RISI North American Conference and RISI Latin American Conference, respectively. In 2007, the first European CEO of the Year Award was awarded to UPM's Jussi Pesonen; the inaugural Latin American CEO of the Year Award was presented to Jose Penido of VCP; and Raymond Royer of Domtar won the North American award for the second time.
About the RISI Asian Conference
The 9th RISI Asian Pulp & Paper Outlook Conference will be held in Shanghai, China on June 2-4, 2008. The China Paper Industry Chamber of Commerce (CPICC) is supporting the conference. Hewlett-Packard (HP), Kadant, Voith, and Star Shipping have signed on as an official sponsors for the event. A representative from HP will be giving a special speech during a breakout lunch session on June 3, 2008.
This year's RISI Asian Conference is co-located with the International Forest Products Transportation Association's (IFPTA) 2nd Asian Regional Seminar, which will be held on June 4-6, 2008.
Conference programs and registration details for the conferences are available online at: RISI Asian Pulp and Paper Outlook Conference: www.risiinfo.com/asiaconf. IFPTA 2nd Regional Seminar: www.ifpta.org.
About RISI
RISI is the leading information provider for the global forest products industry. The company works with clients in the pulp and paper, wood products, timber, tissue, nonwovens, printing and publishing industries to help them make better decisions.
Headquartered in Boston (Bedford), Massachusetts, RISI operates offices in Brussels, Belgium; Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California; Portland, Oregon; São Paulo, Brazil; Shanghai, China; Singapore; and Charlottesville, Virginia. More information can be found at www.risiinfo.com.