Following a vacancy of over ten months, Huarui Bank has officially appointed a new Chairman. According to the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, the bank's legal representative and Chairman has been changed to Wu Kezhao, who previously served as the President of Huarui Bank. In March 2025, the former Chairman Cao Tong resigned for personal reasons. In April of the same year, Wu Kezhao was appointed by the board to act as Chairman, and now, less than a year later, he has formally assumed the role.

The new Chairman, born in 1976, has a career path that appears distinct from both industry peers and his predecessor. Wu Kezhao's background is not in traditional frontline banking operations. He began his career in the telecommunications sector, holding positions such as Deputy Manager of the Planning and Finance Department at China Unicom's Wenzhou branch and Deputy General Manager of the Finance Department at the Zhejiang branch. He later transitioned to banking, serving as General Manager of the Head Office Planning and Finance Department at Wenzhou Bank, and was subsequently promoted to Party Committee Secretary and President of Wenzhou Bank's Shanghai branch.

In May 2023, Wu Kezhao, then serving as the head of a regional city commercial bank's branch, received regulatory approval to officially become the President of Huarui Bank. At the time, he was one of the few presidents among private banks appointed from a city commercial bank branch leadership position. An analysis reveals that the presidents of the then 19 private banks were mostly from state-owned or joint-stock banks. For instance, Cheng Feng, President of Zhongbang Bank, previously headed the Wuhan branch of Agricultural Bank of China; Song Xuefeng, President of Blue Ocean Bank, was formerly Deputy President of Agricultural Bank of China's Weihai branch.

In contrast, the previous Chairman, Cao Tong, was a prominent figure in the banking industry. Over two decades ago, he served as Deputy President of China Merchants Bank's Beijing branch and as a department head at its headquarters, and was one of the founders of CM BANK's "Golden Sunflower" VIP system. Cao Tong later held positions as Assistant President and Vice President at China CITIC Bank. In 2013, he became Vice President of The Export-Import Bank of China, making him one of the youngest senior executives at that level. In a surprising move in 2014, he left his role at the policy bank to join Tencent-backed WeBank, becoming the first President of China's inaugural internet bank. After about a year at WeBank, Cao Tong left to start his own ventures before returning to a professional manager role as Chairman of Huarui Bank in July 2022. He resigned from this position in March 2025 after serving for less than three years.

With Wu Kezhao's formal appointment, Huarui Bank has now seen four leaders in its nine-year history: Ling Tao (2015-2018), Hou Funing (2018-2022), Cao Tong (2022-2025), and now Wu Kezhao. Ling Tao was Vice President of Juneyao Group, Huarui Bank's largest shareholder, and had previously held roles such as Deputy Director of the PBOC Research Bureau. Hou Funing had extensive experience in Shanghai's banking sector before his appointment, including serving as Vice President of Bank of Shanghai and President of Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank.

Huarui Bank is one of the first five pilot private banks in China, with a registered capital of 3 billion yuan. It was established by Juneyao Group in collaboration with several Shanghai-based private enterprises, including Metersbonwe. The bank officially commenced operations on January 27, 2015. By the end of 2024, Huarui Bank's total assets reached 57.23 billion yuan, representing a 16% increase from the beginning of the year. For the full year 2024, the bank achieved operating revenue of 2.067 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41.31%, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 221 million yuan, a significant surge of 314.62% compared to the previous year.

For Huarui Bank, the formal succession of Wu Kezhao may mark the beginning of a new phase. Wu Kezhao has previously noted that the development of private banks is rooted in regional characteristics, shareholder resources, and the diversity of the management team's professional backgrounds. Under the leadership of a chairman with such a diverse career path, how to optimize the business structure while maintaining performance growth remains a core challenge for the bank.