Thomas Toepfer

Wiesbaden, Germany
Thomas Toepfer has been appointed chief financial officer (CFO) of the KION Group, effective on 1 September. He holds a doctorate in business administration and has been CFO and labour relations director at the KION brand company STILL GmbH since June 2011. Before that, he was CFO of Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH and head of group controlling at both Arcandor AG (2005 to 2008) and Hapag Lloyd AG (2004 to 2005), after working as a consultant for McKinsey (1999 to 2004). Toepfer replaces Harald Pinger, who is leaving at his own request.

Nikolaus Michelsen replaces Toepfer as CFO of STILL GmBH. Michelsen has a degree in business administration and has been vice president of controlling at the STILL Group since 2010. He has worked at the KION Group since 2007. Between 2003 and 2007, he held various financial roles with Celanese in the US and in Germany. From 2001-2003, he worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley.

Hangzhou, China
The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) has appointed Ningbo Ruyi Joint Stock Co Ltd president Chu Jiwang as lifelong, exclusive vice chairman of China's foreign trade council.
Ningbo Ruyi says Chu has visited Europe, Africa and other countries with the CCPIT "many times" to gather market intelligence useful for the forklift manufacturer's business development.