Telstra appoints ex-Motorola president as China CEO

Telstra has appointed Dr Ruey-Bin Kao as the CEO of Greater China, in a time when the company is pushing its services into the Asian region.

The announcement was made last week, with Kao replacing Chen Xiaowei, who left Telstra China after less than two years in the role in April last year for personal reasons.

Kao joins Telstra after a stint as the China president of Applied Materials, and before that as the managing director and vice president of enterprise for HP China. Prior to that, he spent 17 years at Motorola China, finishing up as the chairman and president.

"Ruey-Bin has an impressive track record leading and growing technology businesses in the region, which will be invaluable for Telstra as we chart the strategy for future growth in Greater China. I am confident that he will help build Telstra's position as the telecom and IT solutions provider of choice for international businesses in the Greater China region, and Chinese companies that are going global," Telstra's recently returned president of International, Tim Chen, said in a statement.

Chen's return came as Telstra began a massive restructure with a focus on network applications and services looking to expand in the Asia-Pacific region.

While the company is focused on its network services business in Asia, it is exiting its mobile businesses in the region. Late last year, Telstra exited its Hong Kong-based mobile business CSL, selling it to HKT Limited for $2.4 billion. Telstra also took its Chinese car sales website Autohome to an initial public offering in December, initially raising $133 million.

Kao said that Telstra's growth in China would come at a time when the country is looking to build up its 4G and broadband infrastructure.

"There is enormous potential for Telstra to expand collaboration with domestic operators and deliver more of our world-class telecommunications and information services to customers," Kao said.