As acting chief executive in China since December – when Christina Zhu resigned – and former president of NZMP division for China and Southeast Asia, Chow is a proven leader in the region.

The covid-19 disruption in China has made for an eventful year, including a long period in which Chow was in Shanghai while his family remained behind in the United States.

He was in the US on holiday when the virus first hit Wuhan and Chinese cities began to impose travel restrictions, and returned to China to lead 1800 employees through the lean months of January, February and early March.

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell said Chow had made an impressive contribution during his eight months in an acting capacity.

“He has implemented our new strategy across the Greater China business, and over the course of this calendar year, has shown outstanding resilience, resourcefulness and empathy in getting his team and our China business through the ongoing challenge of the pandemic,” he said.

“The insights and experiences he’s shared with the rest of us have been invaluable in our global response.”

Before joining Fonterra in 2015, Chow was chief executive of Louis Dreyfus in China, a leading merchant and processor of agricultural goods.

He was also managing director Greater China for Simplot, a food and agribusiness company.

Chow has tertiary qualifications in marketing and international management from US educational institutes.

An early measure of Chow’s achievements for Fonterra will be released on September 21 when the 2020 annual results contain regional figures for China compared with the previous year.

In recent times China’s results have been good for ingredients and foodservice and bad for consumer and farming, but that may have reversed under covid.