SMIC Photo: VCG

Mainland chipmaking giant Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) halted stock trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday morning after what is deemed as an abrupt senior management change. 

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing issued a statement on Wednesday saying that the SMIC had halted trading of shares temporarily at 9:33 am; all structured products related to the company also stopped trading accordingly. 

SMIC halted stock trading after its co-CEO Liang Mengsong reportedly handed a resignation letter to the board of directors. 

SMIC later issued a statement saying that the company is currently confirming with Liang on whether he really intended to resign, and will shortly publish a notice on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges to elaborate on the matter. 

The stock trading halt also took place one day after the company announced to appoint Jiang Shangyi as the vice chairman of the board of directors, a second category executive director and member of the strategy committee of the company. Jiang used to be the Chief Operating Officer for the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), a chipmaking giant that had been supplying Huawei until the US sanctions kicked in. 

Some media reports have linked Liang's resignation to the sudden appointment of Jiang, speculating that Liang had not been informed of the appointment and felt the move represented a vote of no confidence in his leadership of the company. 

Global Times