China Mengniu Dairy Co., Ltd announced April 12 that Sun Yiping will take over as CEO and executive director of the company with immediate effect.

In its statement, Mengniu confirmed that Sun Yiping, former deputy general manager at COFCO Property Group CO., Ltd. will replace Mengniu's incumbent CEO Yang Wenjun, who will serve as the company's vice chairman having completed two terms as chief executive of Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy (Group) Company Ltd., the company's main operating subsidiary. Newly-appointed Sun also has considerable experience in the food industry, having previously served as general manager of Hainan Coca-Cola Co., Ltd and COFCO Coca-Cola Beverages (Zhanjiang) Co., Ltd.

As COFCO Group has been the largest shareholder in Mengniu since July 2009, many see nothing unusual about the change in personnel. However, some finance analysts view it as a result of the in-depth integration of Mengniu by COFCO Group.

During Yang's term in office, Mengniu's dairy sales were ranked first in China for five consecutive years and sales also propelled the company into the World Dairy Top 20 in 2009, ahead of schedule. However, after Mengniu's dairy products were found to contain a cancer-causing substance at the end of last year, the company's credibility and reputation were severely affected. Senior Finance Analyst Wang Jue believes that Mengniu's change of top-level personnel may herald a new concept of development at the company, putting the emphasis on product quality in an attempt to rebuild consumer and investor confidence in the Mengniu brand.