On March 29, Midea Group (000333) issued 42 announcements in one go. In addition to the core annual report, the news of the company's change of board secretary was "drowned" in numerous announcements. Compared with the continuous interpretation of the annual report, the replacement of the secretary of the board of directors has not attracted more attention from the market.

According to the announcement, due to work changes, Jiang Peng, secretary of the company's board of directors and joint company secretary, announced his resignation. So far, the 12-year "veteran" who has served as the secretary of the board of directors of Midea Group since 2013 has left.

In July 2024, Midea Group appointed Jiang Peng to continue to serve as the secretary of the company's board of directors for a three-year term. That is, until July 2027. Now, just over half a year, Jiang Peng has resigned.

The "old minister" left office, and the "acquaintance" took place

Born in 1973, Jiang Peng has been with Midea Group since joining the company in 2007. From 2007 to 2013, he served as the securities affairs representative of Midea Electric Appliances, and then served as the secretary of the board of directors until his resignation. Although he has not yet reached retirement age, Jiang Peng has already handed over most of his work to Midea Group.

Excluding share incentives, Jiang Peng's annual salary will reach 3.36 million yuan in 2024. In the announcement, Midea Group has made it clear that after leaving office, Jiang Peng will continue to serve in the company.

Replacing Jiang Peng, who was born in the 70s, is Gao Shu, a female general born in the 80s from CICC (601995). Born in 1983, Gao Shu, aged 42, served as executive general manager and managing director of the investment banking department of CICC before joining Midea Group. After succeeding Jiang Peng, she will serve as the secretary of the board of directors, joint company secretary and director of investor relations of Midea Group.

In fact, as early as 10 years ago, Gao Shu had an intersection with Midea Group, as early as 2013, when Midea Group was listed as a whole, CICC was the joint sponsor, and Gao Shu was one of the project contacts on behalf of CICC.

Later, due to the resignation of other personnel, Gao Shu became the sponsor of the financial adviser for the continuous supervision of the restructuring and listing of Midea Group; The last time Gao Shu intersected with Midea Group was in the 2015 annual report, when Gao Shu and Long Liang became the sponsors of Midea Group's continuous supervision of financial advisors.

Gao Shu has appeared in the prospectus of listed companies for IPO many times, such as Cambrian (688256), CIMC Vehicles (301039), Chongqing Agricultural Commercial Bank (601077), China General Nuclear Power (003816) and Bank of Hangzhou (600926). However, she is more of a project team member than a sponsor.

Compared with the former secretary of the board of directors Jiang Peng and the current secretary of the board of directors Gao Shu, it is not difficult to find that the latter is younger and has more contact with the capital market. Midea Group also moved quickly, and in the 2025 A-share shareholding plan released together with the replacement of the secretary of the board of directors, Gao Shu was on the list. According to the plan, Gaoshu can get 0.32% of the current shareholding plan.

Midea Group has a total of 17.36 million shares transferred from the repurchase account in this shareholding plan, that is, Gaoshu can obtain about 56,000 shares. Based on the closing price of the company's shares before the Qingming Festival, the market value is about 4.08 million yuan.

For the first time, the number of employees decreased

Behind the replacement of the secretary of the board of directors, Midea Group has carried out personnel changes. According to the company's annual report, at the end of 2024, the total number of employees of Midea Group will be 198,000, a decrease of 181 from the previous year.

The number of employees in Midea Group increased significantly to 166,000 in 2021, an increase of nearly 17,000 from the previous year. One background is that the 2020 annual report of the Sino-American Group clarified that the number of employees disclosed by the company does not include the approximately 14,000 employees of the KUKA Group, and there has been no special explanation since 2021.

In other words, after the consolidation of the number of employees, the number of employees of Midea Group will decrease for the first time in 2024.

Among the specific reductions, the number of sales personnel decreased by 170 to 13,900, and the number of administrative personnel decreased by 653 to 3,847, a decrease of 14.5%, and the reduction in personnel was the most obvious in functional departments. Production and technical personnel have increased to varying degrees.

From the perspective of parent and subsidiary, in 2021, the parent company of Midea Group had 2,351 employees, and by the end of 2024, there were only 947 employees, a decrease of nearly 60%.

At the annual meeting of operation and management in January 2025, Fang Hongbo, chairman of Midea Group, said that the company will focus on core business and core categories, clear redundant business, simplify product lines (SKU streamlining), and strictly control the access of new categories.

In terms of working methods, Fang Hongbo signed a document requiring all employees to simplify their working methods, and strictly prohibit meetings and formalistic overtime during off-duty hours; A series of formalisms such as PPT and writing materials on behalf of others are strictly prohibited in internal communication.