Yesterday, Zhouheiya International Holdings Co., Ltd. (referred to as 'Zhouheiya', code '01458.HK') issued a notice that Mr. Zhang Yuchen applied to resign from the positions of executive director, chief executive officer and member of the board of directors' strategy development committee due to personal development reasons. After resignation, he will no longer hold any position in the company.

Mr. Wen Yong resigned as executive director and member of the strategy development committee due to the need to devote more time to other company affairs.

Meanwhile, Zhou Fu Yu, chairman of the board and executive director of Zhou Hei Ya, will concurrently serve as the company's CEO. Lv Hanbin, chief supply chain officer, and Wang Yali, general manager of the central China region, have been appointed as executive directors of the company. The board of directors believes that under the leadership of Zhou Fu Yu, the company's operation will continue to reform, constantly improve its operation quality, and achieve long-term sustainable development.

The announcement pointed out that during their tenure, Mr. Zhang Yuchen and Mr. Wen Yong worked diligently, fulfilled their duties, and played a positive role in standardizing the company's operations and long-term development. The company sincerely thanks Mr. Zhang Yuchen and Mr. Wen Yong for their contributions during their tenure.

It is understood that Mr. Zhang Yuchen joined Zhou Hei Ya in May 2019. In the past five years, Mr. Zhang Yuchen has led the team to establish a 'direct sales + franchise' dual-wheel model and upgraded the business model of Zhou Hei Ya. This has enabled Zhou Hei Ya to have a more robust business model and escort overall performance, promoting Zhou Hei Ya to a new development stage.

During his tenure, Mr. Zhang Yuchen led the development of Zhou Hei Ya's Internet-based diversified development strategy and led the establishment of the most comprehensive youth access channel in the industry. During the period from 2019 to 2023, new channels such as Zhou Hei Ya's takeaway terminals and community fresh food channels have seen significant growth, injecting new vitality into Zhou Hei Ya's development.

During the period from 2019 to 2023, Zhou Hei Ya's offline revenue from direct sales stores reached 1.466 billion yuan, an increase of 26.9% year-on-year; franchised stores' revenue reached 783 million yuan, an increase of 13% year-on-year; the company's total revenue reached 2.74 billion yuan, an increase of 17.1% year-on-year. Among them, Zhouheiya's tax-included sales from takeaway terminals increased from 432 million yuan to 853 million yuan, nearly doubling, and the tax-included sales from community fresh food channels increased from 16 million yuan to 148 million yuan, an increase of 825%.

Under the leadership of Mr. Zhang Yuchen, Zhou Hei Ya has steadily developed resilience and continued to maintain its vitality. Even during the period of the impact of the epidemic, Zhou Hei Ya was still able to maintain a good net cash flow from operating activities, laying a solid foundation for the company's long-term healthy and stable development. Moreover, in 2023, the company's revenue growth rate reached 17.1%, leading the entire cured meat industry.

Zhu Danpeng, a China food industry analyst, said that Mr. Zhang Yuchen comes from a Fortune 500 foreign company, especially with years of experience in Procter & Gamble's management, he has extremely strong abilities in company strategy formulation, strategy details control, and execution supervision. After joining Zhou Hei Ya, Zhang Yuchen also brought a brand new operational concept of standardization, professionalization, and branding to Zhou Hei Ya, especially the 'direct sales + franchise' model led by Zhang Yuchen, which not only meets the development status five years ago, but also matches the development trend of the entire industry. His contributions to Zhou Hei Ya are evident.

Mr. Zhou Fu Yu expressed his sincere thanks to Mr. Zhang Yuchen for his hard work and contributions over the past five years, especially for leading the team to adhere to long-termism, creating a direct sales and franchise dual-wheel development business model, and exploring online channels, which has made outstanding achievements and made an indelible contribution to promoting the company's comprehensive and sustainable development. He wished Mr. Zhang Yuchen all the best in his future endeavors!