Canaan Inc. announced on August 4, 2020, that it had added four independent directors to its board, effective August 1, 2020: Wenjun Zhang, Hongchao Du, Zhitang Shu and Yaping Zhang1. The release said three sitting independent directors, Hong Zhang, Xiaohu Yang and Mei Luo, had their terms expire on August 1, 2020, and declined to stand for re-election. Yahoo Finance, carrying a report from The Block, wrote on August 3, 2020, a day earlier, that two more directors, Kong Jianping and Sun Qifeng, had also departed the board when their contracts expired on July 31, 20202.
The fourth board appointment at Canaan on the record since 2020
Leadership moves CryptoLately has verified at Canaan, by year
- 2020: 4
- 2021: 3
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 4 |
| 2021 | 3 |
10 board appointments on the record in 2020
Board appointments CryptoLately has verified, by year
- 2020: 10
- 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 1 |
| 2018 | 3 |
| 2019 | 3 |
| 2020 | 10 |
| 2021 | 10 |
| 2022 | 4 |
| 2023 | 4 |
| 2024 | 6 |
The move
Canaan's release framed the change as governance strengthening. “The nomination committee of the Board has confirmed the addition of Mr. Hongchao Du, Mr. Zhitang Shu, Mr. Wenjun Zhang and Ms. Yaping Zhang as independent directors to the Board, effective August 1, 2020,” the company wrote1. Nangeng Zhang, Canaan's chairman and chief executive, welcomed the group by name. “We are very pleased to have Mr. Hongchao Du, Mr. Zhitang Shu, Mr. Wenjun Zhang, and Ms. Yaping Zhang on our Board. Their extensive leadership and expertise in various industries as well as their specialized corporate management capabilities will provide valuable guidance and strong support to our current and future business development efforts,” Zhang said. Yahoo Finance's report offered a different account of the turnover. “While no clear reason has been provided for the shakeup within the board of directors, the restructuring appears to be in response to internal management disputes over the company's long-term strategic plans, as previously reported by numerous Chinese media outlets,” the outlet wrote2.
Before and after at Canaan
Wenjun Zhang brought more than 20 years of enterprise management experience to the seat, Canaan's release said. He had served as general manager of Beijing Zhijian Engineering. Before that he spent over 12 years at Mesnac as vice president. There he handled the company's listing and its post-listing capital markets work1. His earlier jobs included deputy general manager, then project manager and engineer, at Dalian Rubber & Plastic Machinery Works. Canaan's board then had six members, four of them independent directors, Yahoo Finance reported, citing a 6-K filing2. Hong Zhang, Xiaohu Yang and Mei Luo held the three outgoing seats. Their terms lapsed on August 1, 2020, and each declined to seek reappointment, Canaan's release said.
What the record shows
Canaan's release and the Yahoo Finance report place five directors leaving and four joining in early August 202012. Canaan credited expiring terms. Yahoo Finance pointed to Chinese media accounts of a dispute over strategy. A Google News search on October 3, 2026, looked for a later page on Wenjun Zhang's time on Canaan's board. That search returned only The Block's August 3, 2020 report.
Sources
- Canaan Inc., "Canaan Inc. Announces the Appointment of Four Independent Directors to Enhance Its Corporate Governance," GlobeNewswire, August 4, 2020, https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/08/04/2072294/0/en/Canaan-Inc-Announces-the-Appointment-of-Four-Independent-Directors-to-Enhance-Its-Corporate-Governance.html
- Momina Khan, "Canaan Creative adds four new directors to its board," Yahoo Finance (via The Block), August 3, 2020, https://finance.yahoo.com/news/canaan-creative-adds-four-directors-192054469.html