2011-03-29 16:23

Sun Wei and William Strong will serve as Morgan Stanley's co-chief executives for the Asia-Pacific region, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Analysts said the appointment suggested Morgan Stanley's further enhancement of its China strategy, according to the Chinese newspaper China Business News (CBN). Sun has been CEO of Morgan Stanley China since 2006. She will retain her position alongside the new appointment, the report said.

Strong, who is vice chairman of investment banking and head of the US Midwestern region for Morgan Stanley in Chicago, has been with the company for 18 years. He will relocate to Hong Kong, while Sun will remain in Beijing, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Morgan Stanley's China operations have won excellent achievements while Sun was at the helm. It became the foreign investment bank with the most licenses in China, including the licenses to operate trust and asset management businesses. The company also prepared to found its first yuan-denominated private placement fund, which would enlarge the Wall Street bank's Chinese businesses, CBN said.

Sun, who was born in Beijing and took part in China's "gaokao", the national college entrance examinations in 1978, is one of the few Chinese women to own such international power and influence, according to CBN.