Mr Chow will retire from his current office on 15 January 2010. To ensure a smooth transition, Mr Li will join HKEx on 16 October this year. HKEx announced in March last year that Mr Chow planned to retire from HKEx in 2010.

On behalf of the Board, HKEx Chairman Ronald Arculli commended Mr Chow for his leadership of HKEx and his significant contribution to enhancing HKEx's regulatory and business performance in the past six years. "With his extensive experience and expertise in financial markets and management, Paul has been instrumental in leading HKEx's executive management in carrying out the previous three-year strategic plan (2004-2006), and implementing the 2007-2009 strategic plan to address challenges in an increasingly competitive environment. He will leave HKEx in a strong position to build on the solid foundation established during his tenure. The executive management team and the staff will continue to ensure the smooth and efficient operation of HKEx under Paul's successor," Mr Arculli said.

The Board is also happy to announce today the contract of Chief Operating Officer Gerald Greiner will be renewed for a further three years when it expires on 13 February 2010. In addition, Lawrence Fok, Head of Issuer Marketing, and Mary Kao, Head of Legal Services and Chief Counsel, have agreed to continue their services at HKEx to 31 August 2012 and 31 July 2010 respectively when they reach the standard retirement age in the third quarter of this year.

Mr Li's appointment has received the written approval of the Securities and Futures Commission as required under Section 70 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance.

Mr Li is 48 years old and has approximately 20 years of investment banking and legal experience. He has worked for international law firms in New York and international investment banks in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York.

In his current position, Chairman of JP Morgan China, Mr Li is responsible for all of JP Mol of JP Morgan's businesses in China.

Before joining JP Morgan in 2003, Mr Li was Managing Director and President, China at Merrill Lynch. During his eight-year service at Merrill Lynch, he was responsible for a wide range of investment banking businesses of the firm.

Mr Li also worked at two major New York law firms in the early 1990s after studying in the US and was a Beijing-based editor and reporter for China Daily in the mid-1980s. Before attending university in Fujian Province, he was an oil worker in Bohai oil field in the late 1970s.

Mr Li was born in Beijing and brought up in Gansu Province. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Xiamen University, a Master of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Alabama in the US and a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia University in New York.