It will be the first Chinese vice president in the history of Espanyol. In fact, it will be the only one, after the resignation of Carlos García Pont. Wang Hongyuan will have a relevant role in the reformed Board of Directors of Espanyol, who was already part of the management body since December 2016 but is now experiencing a promotion, coinciding with the start of a tortuous stage in the Second Division.
This is not a Rastar Group executive, like most directors – without going any further, the also new counselor Liu Shenghua, who is 'controller' of the company since 2016-, but of a financial Yan'an native (where the Chinese Communist Revolution was born) but settled for more than two decades in Shenzhen, where the company that owns Espanyol is listed on the Stock Market. In fact, he is a specialist in the stock market sector.
He has based his professional career on manage and advise investment funds, first since Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Securities, after in China Southern and, since 2013, in First Seafront Fund Management, of which he is co-chair. He has a master's degree from New York Columbia University.
its extensive experience in managing venture capital can give some clues about Chen Yansheng's intentions with Espanyol, surely not in the short term but in the medium-long.
It is an open secret that The possibility of listing on the Stock Exchange has been studied for years as a club, to diversify the entrance of investors, and that the president dilutes his weight and, above all, he recovers his investment.
But these could also come through the purchase of a part of the share capital of the entitygiven that Chen currently absorbs 99.55 percent of the club. Or even Wang Hongyuan would have enough professional ability to attend an offer for the purchase of all of Espanyol. Only time will tell.