(Yicai) -- Chinese phone brand Honor has appointed Wang Yuanbin as the new President of China, following recent personnel changes within the company, sources told Yicai today.

Wang previously led Overseas Channels at Honor and held a similar role at Huawei for the Middle East and Africa. In addition, Ni Jiayue has been appointed President of the New Business Model Expansion Department, bringing years of experience from his role as Vice President for Huawei's terminal division in China.

Honor was established in 2013 and spun off from Huawei in November 2020 after being sanctioned by the US government. A consortium of over 30 companies acquired it for CNY 100 billion (USD 13.7 billion) and appointed George Zhao as its CEO. Earlier this month, Zhao stepped down as CEO and director due to health reasons and has been succeeded by Li Jian.

Additionally, Jiang Hairong, who has over 20 years of experience with Honor and Huawei, also resigned as Chief Market Officer of Honor China, as announced internally.

The change in leadership follows Honor’s announcement last month that it had completed the onboarding of new investors and would seek an initial public offering at an appropriate time. Despite ranking fifth among Chinese smartphone makers last year, Honor experienced a 3% decline in shipments, prompting calls for a more aggressive market strategy.

Editor: Chen Juan