Background
Pan Gang was born in 1970 and brought up in Inner Mongolia.
刚 潘
Pan Gang was born in 1970 and brought up in Inner Mongolia.
Pan attended Inner Mongolia Agriculture University from 1989–92 and then worked for a dairy company that later became Yili.
Rising quickly into management at various divisions within the company, in 1999 Pan became the general manager for the Liquid Milk Division. Recognizing the increasing market demand for liquid milk rather than powdered milk, he led Yili to adopt advanced foreign technologies in achieving a 20-fold extension in the shelf life of liquid milk. The longer shelf life fundamentally changed the liquid milk industry, expanding the geographical reach of the product; more importantly still, it enabled Yili to aggressively capture a major market share in liquid milk in China. Since liquid milk accounts for over 65 percent of Yili’s revenue, Yili was nicknamed the ‘Milk Expert’. In 2002, Pan Gang was appointed Yili’s CEO while remaining the general manager for the Liquid Milk Division. Under Pan’s leadership, the Yili Group enjoyed a series of astonishing growth rates per annum of around 50 percent.
However in 2004, Pan Gang and Yili encountered their greatest challenge when the company’s top five managers, including the board chairman, were sued for embezzlement. The scandal shook investors’ confidence and threatened the company morale and reputation. Responding to the crisis, Yili’s board of directors unanimously voted Pan Gang to become the chairman. Through reorganization, he implemented measures to increase transparency in communication and accountability and to build synergy. Pan turned Yili around, generating the three highest consecutive quarterly revenues in 2005, and as an industry leader in China Yili’s gross profit reached 10 billion yuan.