-- Creating a Majority-Independent Board
CHANGGE, Henan, China, Oct. 15 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -– Zhongpin Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ZHNP) ("Zhongpin"), a leading meat and food processing company in the People's Republic of China ("PRC"), today announced that it has appointed two new independent directors to its board of directors. The new directors have increased Zhongpin's board of directors to five members, three of whom are independent. Mr. Yaoguo Pan was appointed to replace Mr. Yunchun Wang, who resigned from the board of directors effective September 26, 2007. Mr. Pan will serve as Chairman of the Compensation Committee. Mr. Min Chen was appointed to the board on October 10, 2007 and will serve as Chairman of the Nominating Committee. Mr. Raymond Leal, who was appointed to the board of directors on June 15, 2007, will serve as Chairman of the Audit Committee.
"We are pleased to welcome these highly qualified directors to our board. We feel Mr. Pan and Mr. Chen will make a significant contribution to our company and ensure we meet a high standard of corporate governance," said Xianfu Zhu, Chairman and CEO of Zhongpin, Inc. "With the addition of our new directors, the majority of the members of the Company's board of directors are independent, which satisfies a key requirement to becoming listed on the NASDAQ Global Market. In becoming a NASDAQ-listed company, we hope to expand our investor base and increase both our liquidity and our visibility in the market."
Mr. Yaoguo Pan has more than 25 years of research experience in China's agriculture. Since 1990, Mr. Pan has been employed as a researcher at the Development Research Center, a policy research and consulting institution that operates directly under the State Council of China, where he is responsible for conducting research concerning the meat industry, including the areas of food supply, animal husbandry and food nutrition. From 1987 to 1990, Mr. Pan served as an assistant researcher at China's Central Rural Policy Research Office and from 1982 to 1987, Mr. Pan was responsible for conducting research and investigations in the areas of rural policy at China's Central Secretariat Rural Research Office. Mr. Pan received his Bachelor's degree at Beijing Agriculture University in 1982.
Mr. Min Chen has over 10 years of experience in executive management as Vice President of Corporate Business Development for Asia at Teleflex Inc., a NYSE-listed company. Prior to joining Teleflex Inc, Mr. Chen was a professor of International Business at The American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird), where he taught competitive strategy, comparative management and negotiations. He also taught as a visiting professor at several prestigious Asian universities. Mr. Chen received his Ph.D. at Australian National University in 1991. He is fluent in English, Mandarin and Japanese.
Mr. Raymond Leal brings to Zhongpin extensive experience in corporate and municipal finance, mergers and acquisitions ("M&A"), corporate treasury and cash management. Mr. Leal currently serves as an adjunct professor at Coastal Carolina University and Webster University, where he teaches in the areas of industrial engineering, corporate finance, accounting, mathematics and statistics at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His previous experience was at a U.S. investment bank where he assisted in over 100 public financing and private placement transactions and led more than 50 M&A transactions. He is a graduate of Stanford University and Santa Clara University, with graduate degrees in business and engineering and an undergraduate degree in engineering. Mr. Leal is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
About Zhongpin
Zhongpin is a meat and food processing company that specializes in pork and pork products, and vegetables and fruits, in the PRC. Its distribution network in the PRC spans more than 20 provinces and includes over 2,800 retail outlets. Zhongpin's export markets include the European Union, Eastern Europe, Russia, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea. For more information, contact CCG Elite directly or visit Zhongpin's website at http://www.zpfood.com .
Safe Harbor Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Certain statements in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company's management and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: unanticipated changes in product demand, interruptions in the supply of live pigs/raw pork, downturns in the Chinese economy, delivery delays, freezer facility malfunctions, poor performance of the retail distribution network, changes in applicable regulations, and other information detailed from time to time in the company's filings and future filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
For more information, please contact:
Crocker Coulson, President
Leslie Richardson, Financial Writer
CCG Elite
Tel: +1-646-213-1915
Email: crocker.coulson@ccgir.com
Yuanmei Ma, Chief Financial Officer
Zhongpin Inc.
Tel: +86-10-8286-1788
