Alan Lam reports

Carnival Corporation & plc has just announced that, from 1 January 2016, Roger Chen would be its chairman in China. Based in Shanghai and as a native of China, Chen will lead all government relations and port development liaisons, as well as supporting the group’s joint ventures in China. In his new role, Mr. Chen will be responsible for representing all of Carnival Corporation’s brands in China, enabling them to continue expanding in the region.

He reports directly to Alan Buckelew, the COO of Carnival Corporation, who will continue to provide strategic leadership to drive the company’s long-term growth plans in Asia, while Michael Ungerer, COO-Shared Services for Carnival Asia, continues in his strategic role to support growth across the brands in Asia, reporting to Michael Thamm, CEO of Costa Group, with a dotted line to Chen.

"Roger comes to us with over 25 years of experience working for major global companies that have significant operations in China, as well as time spent working within the Chinese government, all of which will be invaluable to our growth strategy in China and Asia as a whole," said Alan Buckelew. "We look forward to Roger’s leadership and deep knowledge of government affairs as he oversees Carnival Corporation’s strategic initiatives across all our brands in China, where we expect continued growth and expansion as the leading cruise operator in what has quickly become one of the fastest growing markets in the world.”

Chen’s background includes expertise in corporate and government affairs, and an in-depth knowledge of the Chinese government’s policies and operations. His experience includes several senior positions in major multi-national corporations - where he led strategic efforts in China - including General Electric, Microsoft and Alcatel. Most recently, he served as the president for Volvo Group in China.

 In addition, the company has also recently announced plans to operate two additional cruise brands in China in 2017. Carnival Cruise Line and AIDA Cruises will join Costa Cruises and Princess Cruises in the Chinese market from 2017, making it the first company to operate four cruise brands in China.