Hengrui Medicine's former chairman Zhou Yunshu makes a comeback, appointed as CEO of Xiangsheng Pharmaceutical with an annual salary of 6 million HKD; previously fined for insider trading.

Ask AI · How Can Zhou Yunshu’s Commercialization Experience Help With Sihuan Pharmaceutical’s Sales of Innovative Drugs?

Source: Times Finance; Author: Du Susmin

On March 25, Sihuan Pharmaceutical (02096.HK) issued an announcement stating that Zhou Yunshu has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer and will be responsible for overseeing the group’s overall management of business operations, effective from March 25, 2026. In addition, Zhou Yunshu will be entitled to receive annual compensation of HKD 6 million, plus discretionary performance bonuses. The former CEO, Ren Jinsheng, will continue to serve as the company’s Chairman and Executive Director, focusing on the formulation of the group’s long-term strategy, major investment decisions, and supervision of the board’s履职.

Times Finance notes that rumors about Zhou Yunshu joining Sihuan Pharmaceutical have been around for a long time. As early as December 2025, he attended a strategic cooperation signing ceremony between Jiangsu Cancer Hospital and Sihuan Pharmaceutical in his capacity as “President of Sihuan Pharmaceutical Group,” drawing widespread market attention. At the time, Sihuan Pharmaceutical said, “The information is not completely accurate.” Now, with the release of the announcement, this personnel suspense that had continued for several months has finally been put to rest.

Image source: Announcement screenshot

Public information shows that Zhou Yunshu is 54 years old. His background in the pharmaceutical industry is deep, and he was once a “veteran-level” figure at Hengrui Pharmaceutical (600276.SH). After graduating from China Pharmaceutical University in 1995, he joined Lianyungang Pharmaceutical Factory (the predecessor of Hengrui Pharmaceutical) and was closely tied to Hengrui for 26 years. During that period, Zhou Yunshu held multiple positions, including being a member of the foreign trade department, section chief and deputy minister in the development department, deputy general manager, and general manager.

In January 2020, at age 49, Zhou Yunshu took over as Chairman of Hengrui Pharmaceutical from Sun Piaoyang, who, in an internal speech, described him as the “best candidate” to succeed him, particularly recognizing his ability in the field of sales management. However, less than two years into the role, in July 2021, Hengrui Pharmaceutical announced that Zhou Yunshu stepped down from all positions at the company due to “health reasons,” and Sun Piaoyang returned to the helm.

In September 2022, a document titled “Administrative Penalty Decision” issued by the Heilongjiang Regulatory Bureau of the China Securities Regulatory Commission revealed another side behind his resignation.

The “Administrative Penalty Decision” indicates that Zhou Yunshu was found to have known insider information relating to the cooperation agreement that Hengrui Pharmaceutical and Simcere (603520.SH), as well as its affiliated companies, were planning to enter into. Between April and May 2020, he used accounts belonging to a third party to buy and sell shares of Zhejiang Simcere. Such conduct was determined to constitute insider trading. Accordingly, Zhou Yunshu received administrative penalties, including confiscation of unlawful gains of approximately RMB 450,000 and a fine of RMB 500,000.

After that, Zhou Yunshu temporarily faded from public view. The appointment announcement released by Sihuan Pharmaceutical shows that prior to joining Sihuan, from August 2022 to October 2025, he served as a full-time consultant at Cinda BioPharma (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Cinda Bio (01801.HK)), mainly responsible for providing professional guidance on Cinda’s market strategy and commercialization.

Regarding the matter of Zhou Yunshu being punished for insider trading, Sihuan Pharmaceutical responded in its announcement that the insider trading involved a specific case that had already been subject to administrative penalties, and could not reflect his overall professional conduct. It also disclosed related background investigations, consultation with legal experts, and a legal training commitment letter issued by Zhou Yunshu himself.

In the announcement, Sihuan Pharmaceutical said the board believes that his appointment will significantly strengthen the company’s business development in multiple areas, especially in the R&D and commercialization of innovative drugs, and determined that appointing Zhou Yunshu as Chief Executive Officer is in the overall interests of the company and all its shareholders.

Image source: Announcement screenshot

On March 26, a medical-industry analyst told Times Finance that although Zhou Yunshu has indeed faced controversy due to insider trading, his joining Sihuan Pharmaceutical could help address the latter’s shortfalls in the commercialization of innovative drugs. “Sihuan already has 10 innovative drugs approved for上市. The next key is how to get sales up, and that’s exactly what Zhou Yunshu is best at. The meaning of Sihuan Pharmaceutical’s announcement is also very clear—hiring is done with careful consideration, and they value capability.”

Similar to Hengrui Pharmaceutical’s history, Sihuan Pharmaceutical’s entrepreneurial story can also be traced back to 1995. In its early days, the company also relied on generic drugs to gain a foothold, and starting in 2006 it “shifted from imitation to innovation.” In recent years, Sihuan Pharmaceutical’s transformation has been notably effective. The latest disclosed financial results show that in 2025, the company achieved total revenue of RMB 7.731 billion, up 16.5% year on year; and profit attributable to equity holders of the company reached RMB 1.344 billion, surging 86.2% year on year. Among them, revenue from the innovative drug business was RMB 6.304 billion, accounting for 81.5% of total revenue, up 27.9% from RMB 4.928 billion in 2024.

In addition, in recent years, Sihuan Pharmaceutical has also been very active in overseas licensing of innovative drugs. In 2025, Sihuan Pharmaceutical’s oncology innovative drug platform—Sihuan Zaiming—successively reached three BD (business development) deals with AbbVie, Ipsen, and NextCure. The total potential value exceeded US$2.8 billion, plus tiered royalties.

In January this year, Sihuan Pharmaceutical made another move. At that time, Sihuan Pharmaceutical and Boehringer Ingelheim entered into an exclusive licensing and cooperation agreement for a global exclusive right outside the Greater China region for a TL1A/IL-23p19 bispecific antibody used for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The upfront payment was EUR 42 million, and milestone payments could reach up to EUR 1.016 billion, becoming the first BD major deal since the start of 2026 from domestic companies.

Whether Zhou Yunshu can leverage his industry experience to further improve Sihuan Pharmaceutical’s commercialization system and accelerate its global expansion will be the focus of continued market attention.