About

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) differs from China’s other two national oil concerns – China National Petroleum Corporation (owner of PetroChina) and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) – in its focus on innovation; the company was, from the outset, intended to work with international joint venture partners. An engineer by training, Chen Wei has worked with CNOOC for more than 30 years and has gained substantive experience of interacting with international venture partners and foreign legal and compliance regimes. In his time with the company Chen has held a number of senior positions, including vice director of overseas, director of information at the CNOOC research centre, and general manager of human resources. He was appointed as CNOOC’s assistant president and executive vice president in 2013. Chen was appointed to the role of general counsel at at CNOOC in 2016 as part of a highly publicised series of changes to the company’s senior management that also saw him inherit the position of compliance officer from the departing Wu Guangqi. He also serves as employee director and assistant president of the company.