Recruiting in China

TANG Jun, a poster boy of the Chinese IT industry, was appointed yesterday as the president and chief executive officer of South China-based private firm Newhuadu Industrial Group Co, after a 14-year career in Microsoft China and Shanda Entertainment.

He will be paid a record income package valued at one billion yuan (US$140 million), including shares and warrants, the former Shanda president said at a press conference in Beijing yesterday.

Tang, 46, replaced Fuzhou-based Newhuadu's founder Chen Fashu as president and CEO and he will manage the company's daily operations, strategic development, platform operations and external investment, Chen said.

"I will use my experience to make Newhuadu the most influential firm in China," Tang said yesterday.

The business scope of Newhuadu, founded in 1997, covers retail, real estate, mining, high-tech and tourism industries. It has invested in firms like Zijin Mining, the country's No. 1 gold miner. Newhuadu aims to list the firms it had invested in on the domestic market, including Zijin Mining, by the end of this year, Chen said.

Zijin is set to debut its shares in the domestic market this month and Tang's income package includes Zijin's shares.

Tang, who studied in Japan and the United States in his 20s, joined Shanghai-based Shanda four years ago after working as Microsoft China's president for 10 years.

Tang helped Shanda go public on Nasdaq in May 2004, which made the game firm's founder Chen Tianqiao the richest man on the Chinese mainland that year. Tang also helped Shanda to find partners like Intel, Hewlett-Packard and Changhong.

During his four-year tenure, Tang bought out Sina.com and acquired South Korea's Actoz Soft by paying US$91.7 million for a 29-percent share.