China Energy Investment Group and China Datang Corp., two state-owned energy giants, will change their chairmen amid a diversification of energy assets that calls for better integration of traditional assets.

Zou Lei, former chairman of Datang, will become the next chairman of Beijing-based power and coal behemoth CHN Energy. His position in power generation peer Datang Group will be taken over by Lv Jun, former chairman of food processor COFCO, company websites showed today.

Zou, 58, has extensive experience in the energy industry, based on his public resume. He became the chairman of Datang in December 2020. During his tenure, he guided the company's transformation from a traditional power company to a green and low-carbon energy company.

As of the end of last year, Datang's total installed power capacity exceeded 200 gigawatts, with nearly half of that being renewables. Datang was the only firm among the nation's five major state-owned utilities to achieve growth in revenue and net profit in the first three quarters of last year.

CHN Energy was formed in 2017 by a merger of coal giant Shenhua Group and power producer China Guodian Group to create China's largest power company by capacity. By the end of last year, its share of renewable energy capacity exceeded 40 percent.

Lv, 58, has primarily served at COFCO throughout his career. He led COFCO Futures, a futures brokerage, for more than a decade, highlighting his financial expertise.

An industry insider commented on Lv's industry shift to Yicai. During the transition to new energy, power companies cannot ignore the financial attributes of power assets, especially photovoltaic assets, the source said, adding that this requires leaders to possess certain capital operation capabilities.

As power system reform deepens, appointing an "outsider" as a corporate leader might help avoid inherent thinking patterns and vested interests within the power system, potentially paving the way for new development paths, the insider added.