Board of Directors

Li Fanrong was appointed Chairman of the Board of Sinochem Holdings Corporation Ltd. since August, 2022.

Prior to his current post, Li Fanrong served as President of Sinochem Holdings Corporation Ltd.; Vice President of CNOOC, CEO & President of CNOOC Ltd., and Chairman of Nexen Energy ULC; Deputy Director General of the National Energy Administration(China); Board Director and Group President of CNPC as well as Vice Chairman of PetroChina Company Limited.

In addition to his functions in Syngenta Group, Li Fanrong holds the following board memberships:

• Listed companies: Board of Sinochem International.
• Non-listed companies: Director and President of Sinochem Corporation, Chairman of Sinochem Energy Co., Ltd.

Li Fanrong has extensive working experience in the petroleum and petrochemical industries. He graduated from the Jianghan Petroleum Institute (currently Yangtze University) majoring in oil production engineering, and later obtained his master’s degree in Business Administration from Cardiff University in the United Kingdom. He is a professor-level senior engineer.

Jiao Jian currently serves as the Director and President of Sinochem Holdings since March 2023.

He formerly served as Vice President of China Minmetals Corporation, Chairman of Minmetals Resources Company, and Director and President of China Minmetals Corporation Limited. Prior to that, he held a series of executive positions at China Minmetals, extending back to 2008.

Jiao Jian holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Economics from Nankai University in China and a Master of Business Administration degree from Saint Mary’s University in Canada.

Mr. Li was appointed as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sinochem Holdings in May, 2022.

Mr. Li previously served as Vice General Manager and Chief Accountant of China Resources (Holdings) Co., Ltd., and concurrently served as Chairman of China Resources Cement Holdings Limited, China Resources Capital Holdings Ltd., China Resources SZITIC Trust Co. Ltd., China Resources Bank of Zhuhai Co. Ltd. and China Resources Microelectronics Limited. Prior to those, he held a series of executive positions at China Minmetals Corporation.

Mr. Li holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from Renmin University of China and EMBA Degree from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.
 

J. Erik Fyrwald served as CEO of Syngenta Group from June 2016 through December 2023. He currently acts as Advisor to the Chairman of Syngenta Group and remains on the Board of Directors. Previously, he served as CEO of Univar, a leading distributor of chemistry and related services, from 2012 to 2016. In 2008, following a 27-year career at DuPont, he joined the Nalco Company, a leading water treatment products and services business, serving as Chairman and CEO until December 2011, when Nalco merged with Ecolab Inc. Following the merger, Erik Fyrwald served as President of Ecolab, a global provider of water, hygiene and energy technologies. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Group Vice President of the agriculture and nutrition division at the DuPont Company and from 2000 to 2003, was Vice President and General Manager of DuPont’s nutrition and health business.

Erik Fyrwald serves on the boards of directors of Syngenta Group, Eli Lilly, the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce and the UN World Food Programme Farm to Market initiative. He is also Chairman of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture and CropLife International.

Erik Fyrwald attended the University of Delaware, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1981. He also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Jeff Rowe was appointed CEO of Syngenta Group in January 2024. Previously, he served as President of Syngenta Crop Protection from July 2022 to December 2023 and President of Syngenta Seeds from 2016 to June 2022. Before joining Syngenta Group, Jeff Rowe served as Vice President, Strategic Services and Planning at DuPont Pioneer from 2015 to 2016 and sat on the company’s leadership team. He was Regional Director for DuPont Pioneer Europe from 2011 to 2015, Vice President Biotech Affairs and Regulatory from 2008 to 2011, and Corporate Counsel from 2001 to 2008. He started his career with Pioneer in 1995 in Supply Management and is a former board member of Wayne Farms LLC.

Jeff Rowe has a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics from Iowa State University, a Juris Doctorate from Drake Law School, and a Global Executive MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and the London School of Economics.

Prior to becoming the Chief Financial Officer, Hengde Qin was the Chief Human Resources Officer of Syngenta Group. Previously, he was the President of Syngenta Group China. Before joining Syngenta Group he held the positions of Deputy Chief Accountant of Hubei Hongqi Cable Co. Ltd., CFO of Guotou Yuanyi Industrial Co. Ltd., and Deputy Manager of the Investment Management department of Delong International Strategic Investment Co. Ltd. He joined Sinochem International in July 2004 as Head of the Business Development Department, and was later promoted to CFO, Deputy General Manager, then Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer. Since 2016, he has served as Executive Director and CEO of Sinofert Holding Limited and Executive Director of China National Seeds Group, as well as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Win-all Hi-tech Seed Co. Ltd., and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Jiangsu Yangnong Chemical Co. Ltd.

Hengde Qin graduated from the East China Engineering Institute of Technology, majoring in economy and management with a bachelor’s degree in Engineering. He also holds a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and an MBA from the China Europe International Business School.

Paul Fribourg has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Continental Grain Company since 1997. Prior to that, he held senior management, commercial and commodity trading roles with the company in the US and Europe, beginning in 1976. In addition to his functions in Syngenta Group, Paul Fribourg currently holds the following board memberships:

• Listed companies: The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., Restaurant Brands International Inc., Bunge Ltd. and Loews Corporation. 
• Non-listed companies: Continental Grain Company, Wayne Farms LLC, Restaurant Technologies and Castleton Commodities International LLC.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

Pedro Parente is currently Chairman of BRF, a leading global food company. He is also Chairman of General Atlantic, a global private equity company headquartered in Brazil, and a partner in EB Capital, a Brazilian private equity company. He is a fellow of the George Washington University – the Center for Latin American Studies, in Washington DC.

He has been the Chairman of the Board of B3, the Brazilian stock exchange, among many other listed and non-listed companies. Most of his early professional experience was in the Brazilian public sector: from 1971 to 2002 he held several positions in Brazil’s Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Planning, helping create a public financial infrastructure including the National Treasury Organization. As a Minister of State, he was in charge of the Energy Crisis Committee and was Chief of Staff to President Cardoso. Following that he joined the private sector, where he was Chief Operating Officer or Chief Executive Officer of four major Brazilian companies, including Petrobras and BRF. As CEO of Petrobras he led the company’s recovery. In addition to his functions in Syngenta Group, Pedro Parente currently holds the following board memberships:

• Listed companies: BRF S/A. 
• Non-listed companies: Continental Grain Company, E.bricks Early Stage Consultoria Ltda, EB Capital, Pague Menos S/A, and Prumo Logistica.

He is also Board Chairman of OSESP, the Symphony Orchestra of São Paulo. 

Pedro Parente graduated in electronic engineering from the University of Brasília.

Professor Louise O. Fresco is currently President of the Wageningen University & Research Executive Board. She combines a long academic career as a professor at both Wageningen and Amsterdam universities with extensive involvement in policy and development in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Louise Fresco spent 10 years of her career as Assistant Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. Her work has taken her to more than 60 countries outside Europe and North America. She is a member of eight scientific academies, and has served on the boards of Rabobank and Unilever.

Louise Fresco obtained her doctoral degree with honors from Wageningen University, specializing in tropical agriculture. 

She has published both in academic journals and in the popular media, her book ‘Hamburgers in Paradise: The Stories behind the Food we Eat’ has been translated into three languages.

Dr. Cai Jin-Yong is partner of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) since 2019, in charge of the emerging markets business. In his more than 30 years of professional career, Cai Jin-Yong served as CEO of International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group, as well senior positions in Goldman Sachs Group, TPG, China International Capital Corporation (CICC) and Morgan Stanley. 

In addition to his functions in Syngenta Group, Cai Jin-Yong is also an independent director of PetroChina Co., Ltd and Aon plc. 

Cai Jin-Yong obtained a bachelor’s degree from Peking University in China and Ph.D. in economics from Boston University in the United States.