NEW YORK, Dec. 29, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- New Dragon Asia Corp. (AMEX:NWD) today announced the appointment of Heng-jing Lu as the company's new chief executive officer and chairman of the board, replacing Xue-jun Song who resigned due to health considerations.
The company also said that Li-xia Wang will assume the position of chief financial officer and serve as a board member, replacing Willie Lai who will serve as finance manager and continue as a director of the company.
"We appreciate Mr. Song's contributions to the company and wish him well as he recuperates from major surgery," said Heng-jing Lu, newly appointed chairman and chief executive officer.
"Both Ms. Wang and I look forward to working with other members of the executive team as the company continues to capitalize on its strength in production, distribution, quality and brand name awareness within retail and commercial food markets," Mr. Lu said.
The company highlighted Mr. Lu's and Ms. Wang's extensive industry experience.
Mr. Lu, 52, most recently served as director of the Oil and Grain Bureau for the People's Republic of China. He has over thirty years of agricultural and food industry experience, obtained subsequent to earning a degree in accounting from The Shandong Institute of Economics and achieving certification as an accountant in the People's Republic of China.
New Dragon Asia emphasized Mr. Lu's extensive food industry relationships throughout China as being complementary with the company's business plans, which include organic growth and strategic acquisitions.
Ms. Wang, 45, joined Longkou Oil & Grain Group Company in 1980 and most recently served as its deputy general manager. A graduate of The Shandong Official Institute of Oil & Grain with a diploma in economics, Ms. Wang is a PRC qualified accountant with more than 20 years of experience in the finance and accounting field.
About The Company
Headquartered in Hong Kong, New Dragon Asia Corp. is engaged in the milling, sale and distribution of flour and related products, including instant noodles, to retail and commercial customers throughout China. The company markets its well-established product line through a network of 200 key distributors and 20 regional offices in 27 Chinese provinces with an aggregate production capacity of approximately 175,000 tons of flour and more than 110 million packages of instant noodles.
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward- looking statements are based on current expectations or beliefs, including, but not limited to, statements concerning the company's operations and financial performance and condition. For this purpose, statements that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. The company cautions that these statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of important factors, including, among others, the impact of competitive products and pricing; changes in consumer preferences and tastes or perceptions of health-related issues; effectiveness of advertising or market-spending programs; changes in laws and regulations; fluctuations in costs of production, foreign exchange and interest rates; and other factors as those discussed in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.