(Yicai) Feb. 28 -- GE Healthcare Technologies has appointed Willson Song, who has worked over 20 years at pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, to succeed retiring Zhang Yihao as president and chief executive of the leading healthcare solutions provider's Chinese arm.

Song will officially join the company on April 1 and assume the role of president and CEO of GE Healthcare China on July 1 upon Zhang's departure due to personal reasons, the Chicago-based company announced yesterday.

"Zhang's planned retirement allowed GE HealthCare to purposefully identify and prepare a qualified successor in Song, an exceptional leader with a strong track record and the right skillsets to help deliver the company's local strategy," the firm noted.

Song has worked as a senior executive at Johnson & Johnson China and was president of Johnson & Johnson Medical China from 2018 to last year.

"Since joining GE HealthCare in 2019, Zhang has been responsible for GE HealthCare's strategic development and operations in China, driving the company's long-term growth in the market," the firm said.

Zhang, who joined GE Healthcare in 2019 and was in charge of its strategic development and operations in China, had a seven-year term but chose early retirement, Yicai learned.

"This is not an easy decision, but I've always hoped to spend more time with my family and engage in some public welfare causes that I'm passionate about," Zhang said in an internal letter to employees.

"Zhang has redefined the company's localization, innovation, and partnership strategy in China, establishing a clear blueprint for long-term growth in the region," GE Healthcare said. "His efforts in developing and promoting industry-leading localization have been critical in transforming the industry and helping the company navigate the highly evolving, policy-driven, and competitive market.

"Zhang also doubled innovation investment within five years and expanded the company's manufacturing footprint in Beijing, Wuxi, Tianjin, and Shanghai and built two new manufacturing sites in Chengdu and Shenzhen," GE Healthcare added.

Zhang's decision is a personal choice and has nothing to do with the market environment, GE Healthcare pointed out.

However, due to the recent surge in competition from Chinese medical device suppliers, the market share of global medical device giants, including GE Healthcare, Siemens, and Philips, in China has declined, Yicai found.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev