New Science Leader

(CFP)

Bai Chunli, a well-known chemist and leading nano-scientist, has succeeded Lu Yongxiang as the new president and Party secretary of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China's major research institute for natural sciences.

Bai, 58, graduated from the Department of Chemistry of Peking University in 1978. He received his master's degree in 1981 and Ph.D. degree in 1985, both from the CAS Institute of Chemistry.

After being a post-doctorate and visiting scholar at the California Institute of Technology of the United States for two years, Bai returned to China in 1987 and continued his research at the CAS Institute of Chemistry. Bai was vice president of CAS from 1996 to 2004, and became its executive vice president in 2004.

Gome's New Chairman

(CFP)

Zhang Dazhong, founder of Dazhong Electronics, was appointed chairman and non-executive director of Gome, the largest home appliance retailer in China. Zhang's appointment was announced soon after the resignation of his predecessor Chen Xiao.

Zhang, 63, is seen as the right person to helm Gome. The company's former Chairman Huang Guangyu was sentenced to jail for 14 years on charges of illegal business dealings, insider trading and corporate bribery. With Zhang's appointment, the company has finally ended the struggle for control of Gome between imprisoned founder Huang and his successor Chen.

Zhang sold all his shares of Dazhong Electronics to Gome for 3.65 billion yuan ($555.8 million) in 2007. After the sale, Zhang was out of the public eye. As a veteran of the household electrical appliances industry, Zhang was chosen as Chen's successor in order to stabilize Gome's situation and improve its chances for future development.

Richest Man

(CFP)

Li Yanhong, founder and CEO of Baidu Inc., a Chinese-language Internet search provider, has become the richest man on the Chinese mainland. According to the 2011 Forbes list of the wealthiest people in the world, Li has total assets of $9.4 billion and ranks 95th in the world. He is the first Chinese mainlander to be listed among the world's 100 richest people.

Li, 42, received a master's degree in computer science from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1994. After working at search engine pioneer Infoseek in Silicon Valley in the United States, he returned to China and founded Baidu in 1999. NASDAQ-listed Baidu has more than 70 percent of the Chinese market and is the third largest independent search engine in the world.

A total of 115 entrepreneurs on the mainland of China are on the list this year, while the number was 64 last year.