[SINGAPORE] Kwek Poh Heok has been appointed the new chief executive of Business China, with effect from Jul 1.
She succeeds Ho Chee Hin who served as CEO from January 2023 and will return to the public sector. Ho was responsible for starting several youth programmes, including the Youth Interns Exchange Scheme, the Youth Knowledge Programme, and the Singapore Education Scholarship.
Ho, 50, also led a brand refresh project in 2024 to reinforce the organisation’s commitment to connecting communities, empowering bilingual and bicultural talent.
To achieve a smooth transition, Kwek, 43, will assume the role of CEO-designate from May 27.
She previously oversaw global government relations at Joyy, a Nasdaq-listed video-based social media technology company.
Prior to this, she spent 18 years in Singapore’s public service and served in a variety of roles and ministries, including the Prime Minister’s Office Strategy Group, where she headed the National Population and Talent Division. She also served as deputy principal private secretary to former deputy prime minister Heng Swee Keat.
Her experience working in China spans across the government, corporate and public-private contexts. She held roles in Standard Chartered Bank Shanghai and the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development, which is the master developer of the government-to-government project.
During her public sector career, Kwek also worked with government agencies to contribute to high-level bilateral platforms such as the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation, Singapore-China Forum on Leadership, and Singapore’s cooperation councils with Jiangsu and Shanghai.
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