(Yicai) Aug. 30 -- China’s Shuanghui Investment and Development, the world’s largest pork processing company, has named the second son of its founder as the new chairman.

Wan Hongwei, 51, recently replaced his father Wan Long, 85, as Shuanghui’s new chairman of the board, the Henan province-based firm announced yesterday. Wan Long will continue to serve as Shuanghui’s non-independent director.

“I will extend Shuanghui’s existing operating strategy and continue to focus on the meat processing industry,” Wan Hongwei said. “I will bend over backward to keep Shuanghui everlasting.”

Wan Hongwei served as secretary to the chairman and assistant to the chief executive officer of some affiliate companies of Shuanghui. He was also named vice president of Shuanghui in August 2018.

Shuanghui has been facing succession issues for nearly 10 years. Wan Long told Yicai in 2015 that he would “select his successor and management team through a competition-based mechanism according to assessment standards.” He was supposed to retire when the succession team was ready to take over in 2017.

Wan Long’s eldest son Wan Hongjian was removed from all positions at Shuanghui due to “aggressive behaviors against the firm’s properties,” according to a statement released in mid-2021. Wan Hongjian was named Shuanghui’s vice chairman in August 2018.

Many believe that Wan Hongwei was elected chairman without the right experience, as he needs more time to adapt to the new position and organizational structure of Shuanghui, as well as familiarize himself with production, operation, sales, and other aspects of the company.

In the first half, Shuanghui posted a net profit of CNY3.2 billion (USD451.6 million), down 14 percent from a year earlier. Revenue fell 9.3 percent to CNY27.7 billion (USD3.9 billion) in the period.

Shuanghui's revenue shrank for three consecutive fiscal years since its peak in 2020, with an overall decline in net profit.

Shuanghui’s shares [SHE: 000895] closed 1.1 percent up at CNY23.22 (USD3.28) in Shenzhen today.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Futura Costaglione