Mr. Hu Yinan has been our Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors since February 2024 and Chief Executive Officer in December 2021. He is our Co-founder and has been a Director since our inception in 1998. From 1998 to September 2017, Mr. Hu served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company. From 1998 to October 2011, Mr. Hu served as our Chief Executive Officer. From 1993 to 1998, Mr. Hu served as chairman of the board of directors of Guangdong Nanfeng Enterprises Co., Ltd., a company he co-founded that engaged in import and export, manufacturing of wooden doors and construction. From 1991 to 1995, Mr. Hu was an instructor of money and banking at Guangdong Institute for Managers in Finance and Trade. Mr. Hu received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in economics from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in China. In 2020, he was awarded the honorary title of "The 40 Greatest Insurance Leaders in 40 Years of Chinese Insurance Industry's History", recognized as a leading figure in China's insurance industry.
Mr. Ben Lin has been our Director and Chief Strategy Officer since July 2023. Mr. Lin was our Co-chairman from July 2023 to February 2024. Before joining Fanhua, Mr. Lin was Vice President and Investment Analyst at Capital Group based in Hong Kong from 2016 to 2023. Ben's research and investment responsibility included the Asia Pacific Insurance Sector, Industrial and Consumer Goods. Prior to that, he was a Managing Director with Morgan Stanley Asia. From 2009 to 2014, he was the Head of Asia Pacific Insurance Research and was consistently ranked as a top analyst in the region. In 2015, Mr. Lin became the Head of China Internet Research. Before Morgan Stanley, he was an Executive Director with Nomura Securities Hong Kong and was the Head of Asia Pacific Insurance Research from 2007 to 2009. Mr. Lin started his career in 2005 with Credit Suisse Sydney covering the Australian Insurance and Diversified Financials sector and moved to Hong Kong in a similar role in 2007. He graduated from Macquarie University Sydney with a Master of Commerce degree and was an Associate of the Institute of Actuaries Australia. Mr. Lin is fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Chaozhou dialect and has been learning Japanese.
Mr. Ge Peng has been our chief financial officer since April 2008. From 2005 to April 2008, he served as the general manager of the finance and accounting department and vice president of our company. From August 2007 to September 2008, he was also a director of our company. From 1999 to 2005, Mr. Ge headed our Beijing operations. From 1994 to 1999, Mr. Ge was a financial manager at a subsidiary of China National Native Produce and Animal By-Products Import & Export Corporation. Mr. Ge received his bachelor's degree in international accounting and his MBA degree from the University of International Business and Economics in China.
Mr. Liu Lichong has been our chief operating officer since March 2022 and has served as chairman of our wholly-owned PRC subsidiary Fanhua Insurance Sales Service Group Company Limited, the primary holding company of Fanhua's insurance intermediary business, since January 2022. Mr. Liu Lichong joined Fanhua in 2006, and has previously served in various leadership positions including chief executive officer of Fanhua Group Company, vice president of Fanhua's life insurance unit, and general manager of Fanhua Hebei and Shandong agency branches. Prior to that, he had served as general manager of the sub-branches of Pingan Life Insurance Co., Ltd., Taikang Life Insurance Co., Ltd. and New China Life Insurance Co., Ltd. and held managerial roles in the provincial branches of these companies. Mr. Liu holds a bachelor's degree of Finance from Renmin University of China and a master's degree of Advanced Business Administration from the Business School of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Mr. Li Jun has been our chief digital officer since March 2022 and has been the vice president of our wholly-owned PRC subsidiary Fanhua Insurance Sales Service Group Company Limited, the primary holding company of Fanhua's insurance intermediary business, since January 2022. Mr. Li joined Fanhua in 2008, and has previously served as chief technology officer of Fanhua Insurance Sales Service Group Company Limited and Baowang, the company's online insurance distribution platform, general manager of Fanhua's Information Technology Department and director of Fanhua's Information Center. Prior to joining Fanhua, he had served as head of technology development in China Life Insurance Co., Ltd. and Aviva-COFCO Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Mr. Li holds a master's degree of Computer Application from Wuhan University, and certificates for Senior Engineer, System Analyst, and Certified Database Tuning Expert.
Ms. Kou has been the President of Fanhua Insurance Sales Services Co., Ltd. since 2022. She joined Fanhua in 2008, serving as Deputy General Manager of the Hebei branch, General Manager of the Hebei branch from 2010 to 2020, and Vice President of Fanhua Insurance Sales Services Co., Ltd. from 2020 to 2022. She has worked in the insurance industry since 1997 and had previously worked at Ping An Life Hebei Branch.
She has been honored with the 13th China Insurance Innovation Award “2018 China Insurance Outstanding Leadership Award”, “2019 Leading Figure in Insurance Broker”, awarded “2022 Annual Manager of China Insurance” by China Banking Insurance News, and received the “Outstanding Management Award for Chinese Insurance Brokers” at the International Insurance Festival. She received her Bachelor's degree in Economics from Lanzhou University of Finance and Economics and Master's degree in Economics from Renmin University of China.
Mr. Jiang is the Vice President of Fanhua Insurance Sales Services Co., Ltd. and General Manager of Jiangsu Branch. He joined Fanhua in 2003 and had since held various managerial roles in Fanhua including Chief Operating Officer and Director of the President's Office and Operations Center of Fanhua Insurance Sales Services Co., Ltd., Vice President of Fanhua's life insurance business unit, and Finance Director of different branches and Life Insurance business division. He has a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from Hubei University of Economics.
Mr. Zhai has been Vice President of Fanhua Insurance Sales Services Co., Ltd. since 2021; from 2016 to 2021, he served as the General Manager of Fanhua Lianxing Insurance Sales Co., Ltd. Guangxi Branch. Mr. Zhai started his career at China Life Guangxi Branch in 2001, serving as Deputy General Manager at Baise, Beihai, and Nanning subbranches, and General Manager of the Individual Insurance Department of the Provincial Branch. He has a Bachelor's degree in Insurance from Central University of Finance and Economics.
Mr. Zhao is a senior economist and has been Vice President of Fanhua Insurance Sales Service Group Co., Ltd since 2016; he was the Chairman and President of Fanhua Bocheng Insurance Brokers Co., Ltd. from 2010 to 2016. he was the General Manager of the Large Commercial Risk Insurance Department of the Property Insurance Department of PICC from 1992 to 2010. He has a Master's degree in Economics from Nankai University.