China Unicom announced today in a statement published to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that its chairman and CEO Liu Liehong has resigned from his position with the Chinese state-owned MNO.
54-year-old Liu has been in the role since August 2021, and on 18th July 2023 was named as the head of a new government national data bureau.
The new bureau was announced in March as part of a wider government reshuffle with responsibility for planning China's digital economy. It will also facilitate the sharing and development of the country's data resources and exchange of information resources across industries, as well as promoting China’s smart city initiatives.
The bureau will be a vice-ministerial level regulator and will incorporate staff from China’s innovation and high-tech development department and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), which regulates the internet.
Liu leaves China Unicom after “resolutely implement(ing) the national strategic decisions and deployment about Cyber Superpower and Digital China development” China Unicom said in its statement.
A successor has not been named, but China Unicom plan to adjust its board membership in response to the resignation.
Liu has over thirty years’ experience working in the electronics and IT industry, starting his career at a state-owned research institute as an engineer in 1990.
He later worked at China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) in 2004 and by 2009 was named as its president.
In 2018, Liu was appointed to his first government role as vice head of the CAC. In 2020 he became the vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, with responsibility over China’s 5G rollout.
