(Yicai Global) Dec. 15 -- Whirlpool Corporation's [NYSE:WHR] Asia-Pacific group president Wu Shengbo will replace Jin Youhua as new chairman of Whirlpool China Co. [SHA:600983], said a company statement issued yesterday.

Jin Youhua has offered his resignation as chairman of Whirlpool China, effective from Dec. 29. The company's board of directors nominated Wu Shengbo as the new chairman, the statement said.

Wu Shengbo, 51, graduated from the Department of Thermal Engineering of the prestigious Tsinghua University and went to the US for further study. He has served as the executive committee member of the Whirlpool Corporation and president of Asia-Pacific region since February.

Whirlpool China posted an operating income of CNY4.9 billion (USD741 million) in the first nine months through September, down 3.57 percent from the year before, and a loss of CNY56.6 million with the net profit falling by 123 percent compared with the same period last year.

Founded in 1911 and headquartered in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the US, Whirlpool Corporation is one of the world's biggest manufacturers of large household electrical appliances. It acquired 51 percent stake of Hefei Rongshida Sanyo Electric Co. in 2014 and has changed the company's name from Hefei Sanyo to Whirlpool China Co.