GE Healthcare Announces Leadership Transition in China with Appointment of Former Danaher Executive Zhang Yihao as New CEO

Recently, CBI Medical Devices (ID: medchina) confirmed with the China Communications Department of GE Healthcare that the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Healthcare China will change on July 8. Zhang Yihao, who previously served as Senior Vice President of Danaher Group's Dental Products Platform and President of China and Asia-Pacific Region, will succeed Duan Xiaoying. This day will also mark Zhang Yihao’s official start date at GE Healthcare China.

GE Healthcare’s China Communications Department told Saibailan Medical Devices that the aforementioned news had already been announced internally within GE Healthcare. Although there has been a change in the leadership position for the Chinese market, GE Healthcare’s commitment to the Chinese market and to its customers in China remains unchanged.

GE Healthcare China’s Communications Department further revealed that prior to the change in leadership, Duan Xiaoying had previously held three concurrent roles: President and Chief Executive Officer of GE China; President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Healthcare China; and President and Chief Executive Officer of GE International Operations.

Following the appointment of Zhang Yihao as President and Chief Executive Officer of GE HealthCare China, Duan Xiaoying assumed responsibility for GE China and GE’s international operations, serving as President and Chief Executive Officer.

He was formerly a senior executive at Danaher China.

According to information provided by GE Healthcare China, prior to assuming his new role, Zhang Yihao served as Senior Vice President of the Dental Products Platform at Danaher Corporation and President for China and the Asia-Pacific region.

Primarily responsible for the business operations in China and the Asia-Pacific region of the three major operating companies under Danaher’s Dental Products Platform: KaVo Kerr Restorative, Ormco Orthodontics, and Nobel Biocare Implants.

He first joined Danaher Corporation in the United States in 2003, serving in management roles at its subsidiaries. In 2010, he became General Manager of KaVo Group’s China region.

From November 2013, served as Vice Chairman of the Second Committee of Dental Equipment and Instruments, Chinese Stomatological Association, for a term of three years.

GE and Danaher “Tie the Knot”

It is reported that Zhang Yihao is not the first executive to leave Danaher and join GE.

Last October, GE Group replaced its CEO and appointed former Danaher CEO Lawrence Culp as the new “head.”

Not only at the management level, but there are also significant overlaps in business operations. On February 25, 2019, GE announced that it would sell its biopharmaceutical business to Danaher for a total price of $21.4 billion.

China is GE Healthcare's largest overseas market.

According to GE’s 2018 annual financial report, the company’s total revenue for the previous year was approximately $121.6 billion, with the healthcare segment generating $19.8 billion in revenue, accounting for 16% of GE’s total business. The healthcare segment reported a profit of $3.7 billion, representing a profit margin of 18.7%.

According to Leifeng.com, at the CMEF last April, Duan Xiaoying stated that the majority of GE Healthcare’s revenue comes from outside the United States, with China being its largest single-country market outside the U.S., accounting for approximately 15% of the company’s total revenue and orders.

Five production bases in China

GE HealthCare is the healthcare business unit of GE. Its scope of business covers hardware, software, biotechnology, and big data and data analytics based on these fields.

In China, GE Healthcare’s digital output primarily focuses on three key areas: asset operations, clinical diagnostics, and hospital development.

GE Healthcare has been operating in China since 1979 and currently has five global manufacturing bases in the country:

Beijing has built factories for CT scanning systems and X-ray imaging systems; Shanghai has established a production base for contrast agents; Tonglu has set up a production base for filter paper; Tianjin has developed a production base for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems; Wuxi has constructed factories for clinical care equipment such as ultrasound, anesthesia, electrocardiogram (ECG), and patient monitoring devices.

Notably, the Wuxi factory is GE’s largest global production base for ultrasound equipment. More than 40% of the ultrasound products sold by GE worldwide are manufactured at the Wuxi facility.

Under the leadership of its new CEO, will GE Healthcare China maintain business continuity as stated in its official response, or will it deliver unexpected innovations and breakthroughs? CCB Medical Devices will continue to closely monitor this development.

Source: CBI Medical Devices