CHINESE high-performance materials producer Swancor Advanced Materials has named the co-founder of AgiBot — a robotics startup that recently became its controlling shareholder — as its new chairman. Peng Zhihui, who also serves as president and chief technology officer of AgiBot, was unanimously elected chairman at an interim shareholders’ meeting, Swancor announced Tuesday. The 33-year-old began his career as an algorithm engineer at the Oppo Research Institute. In 2020, he was selected for Huawei Technologies’ “Genius Youth” program and later became a departmental principal engineer at the telecom giant. In February 2023, he co-founded AgiBot alongside former Huawei vice president Deng Taihua and others. The shareholders’ meeting also elected five non-independent directors to Swancor’s new board, three of whom hold senior roles at AgiBot: Peng; Jiang Qingsong, senior vice president and marketing president; and Niu Jia, vice president and chief human resources officer. The other two are Swancor CEO Tian Hua and co-CEO and CTO Zhou Bin, who are responsible for the company’s day-to-day operations. The new board now consists of these five non-independent directors, three independent directors, and one employee representative director, with Peng as chairman. The move is part of a strategic effort to deepen cooperation in materials manufacturing and robotics applications, aiming to unlock synergies between the two companies. AgiBot completed its takeover of Swancor earlier this month, now holding a 58.6% stake. Together with shares held by parties acting in concert, AgiBot controls 63.6% of the voting rights in Swancor. This marks the first time a Chinese embodied intelligence startup has taken control of a company listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Star Market. Swancor’s main business includes materials for wind turbine blades and other advanced composite materials. AgiBot develops embodied intelligence robots. It produced its 1,000th robot in January, with annual shipments expected to reach several thousand units this year. (SD-Agencies) | 