Zhou Zhongshu: Top China Minmetals Man

Zhou Zhongshu was born in 1952, in Jiangsu Province, China and graduated from Shanghai International Studies University.  He started his career in China Minmetals Corporation in January 1970. As typical of talented managers he has worked in a number of executive positions in different parts of the company including being stationed abroad.

Zhou has worked within the corporation as executive vice president of China Metals & Minerals (Brazil) Ltd., deputy director for metal products business, general manager of the metal products company and assistant as well as vice president of China Minmetals Corporation.

Aside from Brazil Zhou was also posted in Spain as Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy while being the vice president of China Minmetals Corporation. Being employed in a state-run company Zhou has had to play dual roles as a government and corporate employee.

Beside his management skills Zhou has also been productive as an author. While he was the Commercial Counselor to Spain he authored 15 articles including “Experience of Management System Reform for State-owned Assets in Spain.” His articles have been published in domestic and overseas newspapers and publications.

For his management skill and hard work Zhou was appointed president of China Minmetals Corporation on December 2004. It became evident early on that he was not ordinary business head. He immediately proposed a new strategic goal of doubling the business revenue and profit of Minmetals within 5 years. This propelled the company into a new development phase.

Under his leadership China Minmetals has been cited by industry organizations as one of the best performing enterprise in its industry. The company that Zhou leads is actually an international heavyweight being one of the largest corporations in the world.

The firm is based in Beijing, China and was founded in 1950. It has long played an integral role as a major import and export channel for metals and minerals in China. With Zhou at the helm it is now an internationally competitive and respected company.