BASEL, SWITZERLAND - New Chiefs are taking up the mantle within Syngenta Group’s leadership team. Jeff Rowe has been named Chief Executive Officer, while Hengde Qin was named Chief Financial Officer.

Rowe currently serves as President of Syngenta Crop Protection, Syngenta Group’s largest business unit. He was previously President of Syngenta Seeds, where he executed a successful turnaround of the Seeds business. He will take up his new position on January 1, 2024.

As noted in the release, Rowe brings nearly 30 years of diverse experience in the agriculture sector and as a fifth-generation farmer. He will succeed Erik Fyrwald, Syngenta Group CEO, who will continue as CEO until the end of the year before retiring after seven and a half years with the company. He will continue as Advisor to the Chairman of Syngenta Group and remain on the Board of Directors.

Li Fanrong, Chairman of Syngenta Group, commented on the succession.

“With the strong foundation established by Erik, Jeff is the right CEO to lead Syngenta Group,” said Fanrong. “The board is pleased with the world-class, orderly, and planned succession process and has found in Jeff a strong leader with the business acumen, operational skills, and strategic vision needed to guide Syngenta Group in this critical industry.”

Joining Rowe in the C-suite is Qin. He will succeed Chen Lichtenstein, who has been CFO since the creation of Syngenta Group and will be stepping down to pursue other business opportunities.

Qin is currently the Chief Human Resources Officer of Syngenta Group, based in Basel, a position that he assumed at the beginning of the year. He was previously President of Syngenta Group China (SGC), where he built a strong team that has been delivering outstanding revenue and profitability growth. Under his leadership, noted a separate release, SGC built market-leading positions in the crop protection and seeds markets in China. He also strengthened SGC’s leadership position in crop nutrition and grew the Modern Agriculture Platform business to be the fastest-growing business in global agriculture.

“Hengde is a strong leader with excellent financial acumen. He has extensive experience in finance and strong knowledge of the business and will make an excellent partner to Jeff Rowe,” commented Fanrong. “I look forward to what this new team can achieve together.”

Congratulations to these amazing leaders as they start their new chapters.

Syngenta Group