BEIJING, Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Origin Agritech Ltd.
(NASDAQ: SEED) (the "Company" or "Origin"), an agriculture
technology and rural e-commerce company, today announced key
management changes. Dr. Gengchen Han, the Executive Chairman of the
Company, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Company between
1997 and 2009 and between 2011 and 2016, has returned to become
Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and Dr. James Chen, the former Chief Executive Officer
of the Company, is now the Chief Financial Officer of the Company.
The Company also announced that Mr. Shuangcheng Zhou will become
the President of the Company upon the closing of the Share
Subscription Agreement signed on October 16,
2018 between the Company and
Longhan Investment Co., Ltd. ("Longhan").
Mr. Zhou is currently the Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of Longhan, the company he started in 2010.
Mr. Zhou has served as the Chairman of China National Travel
Industry Corporation previously. He has also been the Vice
President of the National Research Institute of Policy Science and
Vice-Chairman and Secretary-General of the Silk Road Special Fund
Committee, among other positions in various government
entities.
"I'm excited to return as the CEO of the Company and to welcome
Mr. Zhou to our management team as we're moving into new strategic
directions of an Origin e-Commune Network and the ISALR cooperation
programs with Longhan," said Dr. Gengchen Han. He continued, "Our
board and I thank Dr. Chen for his excellent service as CEO during
this challenging period of time and we trust that his continuing
service as CFO will serve well for the Company."
"I'm thrilled to join Origin's management team and very happy to
work with Dr. Han, Origin's board and its management team," said Mr. Zhou, "I
believe our cooperation program in ISALR technologies could create
a major new business that will take Origin to a much higher level.
Our teams have already been working together and are
identifying business opportunities
to implement in 2019 and beyond."
"I have been a strong believer for Origin and Dr. Han's
leadership. I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to help the
Company moving into the new strategic directions. The return of Dr.
Han back as the CEO, the ISALR cooperation program with Longhan,
and Mr. Zhou's agreement to join Origin's management team will set
a strong basis for the business growth going forward," said Dr.
Chen.
The ISALR (Integrated Saline-Alkaline Land Reclamation)
cooperation programs with Longhan is the technology cooperation
between Origin and Longhan. Origin and Longhan agreed to
commercialize the ISALR technologies and target to plant on 1
million mu (~165,000 acres) of saline-alkaline land in
2019.
About Origin Agritech Limited
Origin Agritech Limited, founded in 1997 and headquartered in
Zhong-Guan-Cun (ZGC) Life Science Park in Beijing, is China's leading agricultural technology and a
rural social e-commerce company, expanding in mid-2018 from crop
seed breeding and genetic improvement business to be a leading
technology developer in new rural e-commerce platform and
Blockchain technologies. In crop seed biotechnologies, Origin
Agritech's phytase corn was the first transgenic corn to receive
the Bio-Safety Certificate from China's Ministry of Agriculture. Over the
years, Origin has established a robust biotechnology seed pipeline
including products with glyphosate tolerance and pest resistance
(Bt) traits. For further information, please visit the Company's
website at: http://www.originseed.com.cn or
http://www.originseed.com.cn/en/.
Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains "forward-looking statements" as
defined in the federal securities laws, including Section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements address expected future business and financial
performance and financial condition, and contain words like
"expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek,"
"will," "would," "target," and similar expressions and variations.
Forward-looking statements address matters that are uncertain.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance
and are based on assumptions and expectations which may not be
realized. They are based on management's current expectations,
assumptions, estimates and projections about the Company and the
industry in which the Company operates but involve a number of
risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's
control. Some of the important factors that could cause the
company's actual results to differ materially from those discussed
in forward-looking statements are: failure to develop and market
new products and optimally manage product life cycles; ability to
respond to market acceptance, rules, regulations and policies
affecting our products; failure to appropriately manage process
safety and product stewardship issues; changes in laws and
regulations or political conditions; global economic and capital
markets conditions, such as inflation, interest and currency
exchange rates; business or supply disruptions; natural disasters
and weather events and patterns; ability to protect and enforce the
company's intellectual property rights; and separation of
underperforming or non-strategic assets or businesses. The company
undertakes no duty or obligation to publicly revise or update any
forward-looking statements as a result of future developments, or
new information or otherwise, should circumstances change, except
as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.
Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in
these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure
you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and actual
results may differ materially from the anticipated results. You are
urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the
forward-looking statements contained herein and are cautioned not
to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which
are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary
statements.
Contact:
James Chen
Phone: +86-10-58907556
Email: james.chen@originseed.com.cn
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SOURCE Origin Agritech Limited