Arm China Appoints New CEO Amid Geopolitical and Tech Shifts

Arm Holdings PLC’s Chinese subsidiary is undergoing a leadership transition, appointing a veteran of the local semiconductor industry as its new CEO. The move is aimed at strengthening the company’s ability to navigate the evolving geopolitical and technological landscape.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Arm China has selected Chen Feng, a former executive at Fuzhou-based Rockchip Electronics Co., to take on the role. The appointment is expected to be finalized following the conclusion of the Lunar New Year holiday this week.

As part of the leadership change, co-CEOs Liu Renchen and Eric Chen will step down from their positions. One source also noted that Fang Fenglei, founder of joint venture partner Hopu Investment Management Co., currently serves as Arm China’s chairman.

Chen Feng’s appointment marks the end of a turbulent chapter for Arm’s China operations. The new CEO will be responsible for helping the Cambridge, UK-based firm adapt to industry shifts, particularly as the rise of cost-effective artificial intelligence (AI) technologies reshapes the competitive landscape. The recent emergence of Chinese start-up DeepSeek as a formidable rival to OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc. triggered a $1 trillion market downturn on Monday, creating new uncertainties in the lucrative data center sector—one of Arm’s key growth targets.

The two departing co-CEOs had been serving in interim roles since the 2022 removal of former CEO Allen Wu. Wu had been dismissed in 2020 over alleged conflicts of interest but refused to relinquish his position, leading to a prolonged leadership dispute.

A leadership vacuum followed as both Liu and Eric Chen managed commitments outside of Arm China. Sources indicated that Liu is associated with the Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen, while Eric Chen, who originally joined Arm China’s board while working as a managing partner at the SoftBank Vision Fund, later co-founded ParityBit Technologies.

Due to the interim co-CEOs’ limited availability, the board decided to appoint Chen Feng as the sole, full-time CEO to provide more stable leadership and help the company navigate the industry’s rapid technological and geopolitical changes, two sources confirmed.

Arm, whose chip architectures power the majority of the world’s smartphones—including Apple’s iPhone—remains at the center of US-China tech tensions. Recent US-imposed export restrictions on advanced AI chips have complicated business operations for companies like Arm, as Beijing responds with concerns over American trade policies.

Majority-owned by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp., Arm specializes in developing chip designs and licensing software codes that enable seamless communication between hardware and software. As geopolitical pressures and industry disruptions intensify, the company faces an increasingly complex business landscape in China and beyond.

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