Wolters Kluwer appoints Yong Zhao head of China financial services business

Wolters Kluwer has appointed Yong Zhao as general manager for the financial services market in China. Zhao, who will be based in Shanghai, will help spearhead further growth for the financial technology firm in the market. He assumes the role from Michael Thomas, who previously led the China operations as general manager and North Asia director. Thomas plans to retire at the end of June 2016 after a distinguished career spanning more than 40 years.

Zhao currently works at Wolters Kluwer as head of professional services and deputy general manager for China for the global provider of risk management, compliance, finance and audit solutions for the financial services segment. He brings more than 15 years of experience in software development, system implementation and project management to his new role.

Prior to Wolters Kluwer, Zhao worked for Lombard Risk, where he was responsible for managing all regulatory reporting projects across Asia. His responsibilities encompassed all regulatory product development streams and key software development projects. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Tsinghua University.