Royal DSM appointed Zhou (Joe) Tao as president of DSM China. Joe Zhou succeeds Dr. Jiang Weiming, who has helmed DSM China since 2007. Dr. Jiang Weiming will continue to serve at DSM as special advisor to the Global Co-CEOs.
Zhou’s responsibility includes driving DSM’s growth in China, focusing on innovation and sustainability, and reinforcing a talent pool of capable and skilled workforce. He will also spearhead DSM’s purpose-led, performance-driven strategy and align this with the sustainability goals of China’s 13th Five-Year Plan and the Healthy China 2030 blueprint.
Zhou joined DSM China in January 2020 and has since worked closely with Dr. Jiang Weiming to ensure a smooth transition and efficient onboarding, including spending time at DSM’s headquarters in the Netherlands and deepening understanding of DSM’s diversified portfolio of businesses.
Geraldine Matchett and Dimitri de Vreeze, Co-CEOs of Royal DSM, said that “Joe Zhou’s rich experience and successful track record running multinationals in this market make him the ideal person to lead DSM in China. He has all the strengths and capabilities to deliver on our commitment to creating a brighter world for all to the local market. We’d like to also express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Jiang Weiming for his extraordinary leadership and contributions over the last 13 years, which has laid a solid foundation for DSM’s continued success under Joe’s appointment.”
Joe brings a wealth of knowledge and business acumen from his previous roles, including 19 years with Alcatel Lucent in Australia and China. There he held various positions including commercial, operations, strategy and general management. Joe was instrumental in the establishment of a major joint venture, Alcatel Shanghai Bell, and continued to lead its successful international business unit.
In 2008, Joe joined Eaton as China president before taking on regional leadership responsibility as Asia Pacific president for its Aerospace Group. He went on to serve as the China president of the combined company after Eaton’s acquisition of Cooper Industries. He was the China president at Arconic before joining DSM.
“DSM is uniquely positioned in the market as a global leader of innovative and sustainable solutions that brighten people’s daily lives through science. My priorities as China president will be to fulfill DSM China’s commitment to innovation and sustainability, with purpose-led strategies to create value across the areas of people, planet and profit to all our stakeholders. I am equally committed to providing effective leadership that empowers our talent to realize our goals together,” said Zhou.
