Investor relations

Dr. Shawn (Xiaohua) Qu founded Canadian Solar Inc. in Guelph, Ontario, Canada in 2001 and has been the chairman and chief executive officer of our Company since then. Canadian Solar went public on the Nasdaq in 2006 and is one of the world’s largest solar technology and renewable energy companies, with approximately 18,500 employees globally. We are a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules, provider of solar energy and battery storage solutions, and developer of utility-scale solar and battery storage projects with a geographically diversified pipeline in various stages of development. Over the past 22 years, our products and services have benefited thousands of customers in over 160 countries, and provided clean electricity to millions of households. Prior to founding Canadian Solar, Dr. Qu worked at ATS Automation Tooling Systems in Canada and its subsidiary Photowatt International in France. Before that, Dr. Qu was a Research Scientist at Ontario Hydro (now Ontario Power Generation). Dr. Qu received a BSc degree from Tsinghua University, an MSc degree in Physics from the University of Manitoba and a PhD degree in Materials Science from the University of Toronto. Dr. Qu continued working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto, focusing on semiconductor optical devices and photovoltaic cells. Dr. Qu has been a fellow of Canadian Academy of Engineering since 2019.

Mr. Leslie Li Hsien Chang has been serving as an independent director of our company since September 2020 and has been serving as a director of CSI Solar since December 2020. Mr. Chang is currently an independent nonexecutive director, chairman of the audit committee, and a member of the remuneration committee and nomination committee of Huzhou Gas Company Limited (HKSE: 6661). Mr. Chang has been serving as Senior Advisor to CITIC Capital (Holdings) Limited since 2014. Prior to that, Mr. Chang served as a senior corporate executive and board director at several companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. He joined CITIC Pacific limited (now known as CITIC Limited) as General Manager, Finance in 1994 and later became the Executive Director and Deputy Managing Director of the company responsible for the Group’s financial management, accounting, and treasury functions. Mr. Chang also served as the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of HKC (Holdings) Limited; Executive Director and Vice Chairman of China Renewable Energy Investment Limited; Alternate Director on the board of Cathay Pacific Airways Limited and Independent NonExecutive Director of Pou Sheng International (Holdings) Limited, among other roles. Mr. Chang started his career after graduating from George Mason University business school in 1984 and joined the New York Office of KPMG. He became a partner of the firm specializing in the financial services industry and served as the Director of the Chinese Practice. Mr. Chang served as a certified public accountant in the State of New York and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Chartered Global Management Accountants, and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Dr. Harry E. Ruda has served as an independent director of our company since July 2011. He is the Director of the Centre for Advanced Nanotechnology, the Stanley Meek Chair in Nanotechnology and Professor of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto, Canada. From 1982 to 1984, he developed one of the first theories for electron transport in selectively doped two-dimensional electron gas heterostructures, while working as an IBM post-doctoral fellow. From 1984 to 1989, he was a senior scientist at 3M Corporation, developing some of the first models for electronic transport and optical properties of wide bandgap II-VI semiconductors. Dr. Ruda joined the faculty of the University of Toronto in 1989 in the Materials Science and Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering Departments. His research interests focus on the fabrication and modeling of semiconductor nanostructures with applications in the fields of optoelectronics, energy and sensing. Dr. Ruda was one of the founders of a Canadian National Centre of Excellence in Photonics. He has served on the National Science and Engineering Council of Canada and on other government panels, including those of the Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation in the U.S. and the Royal Academy of Engineering and Engineering Physical Sciences Research Council in the United Kingdom. Dr. Ruda is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, a Fellow of the Institute of Nanotechnology, and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. He obtained his Ph.D. in semiconductor physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982.

Mr. Andrew (Luen Cheung) Wong has served as an independent director of our company since August 2014. He has also served as a director of Chubb Life Insurance Company Ltd. since 2008, and is an independent director and the vice-chairman of Huazhong In-vehicle Holdings Company Limited, which is listed in Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Previously, Mr. Wong served as a director and a member of the audit committee, nomination and remuneration committee of China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited, a company listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, between 2013 and 2018. Mr. Wong was the director of Intime Retail (Group) Co. Ltd., a company listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, between 2013 and 2014, and was the director and a member of audit committee, risk management committee, nomination and remuneration committee of China Minsheng Bank, a company listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, from 2006 to 2012. From 1982 to 2006, Mr. Wong held senior positions at the Royal Bank of Canada, the Union Bank of Switzerland, Citicorp International Limited, a merchant banking arm of Citibank, Hang Seng Bank Limited and DBS Bank Limited, Hong Kong. Mr. Wong was awarded the National Excellent Independent Director by the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2010 and received the Medal of Honour (Hong Kong SAR) from the Hong Kong SAR Government in 2011. Mr. Wong obtained his Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) degree from the University of Hong Kong in 1980 and a Master of Philosophy degree from Hong Kong Buddhist College in 1982.

Ms. Lauren C. Templeton has served as an independent director of our company since January 2020. Ms. Templeton is the founder and President of Templeton & Phillips Capital Management, LLC, a global investing boutique located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She is also an independent director and member of the audit committee of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, a financial holding company engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and associated investment management, and its publicly-traded subsidiary, Fairfax India Holdings Corporation. Ms. Templeton serves on a number of non-profit organizations, including serving as Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the John Templeton Foundation. She is a member of the Templeton World Charities Foundation and the Templeton Religion Trust. She also serves on the Board of Overseers at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Ms. Templeton is the former President of the Southeastern Hedge Fund Association, based in Atlanta, Georgia. She is also the co-author of “Investing the Templeton Way: The Market Beating Strategies of Value Investing’s Legendary Bargain Hunter”, which has been translated into nine languages. Ms. Templeton holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of the South, Sewanee.

Mr. Yan Zhuang has been serving as a director of our company since September 2020. He is also the President of CSI Solar, and has been serving as a director of CSI Solar since September 2020. He has served various leadership roles, most recently as our president and chief operating officer, and previously as acting chief executive officer, senior vice president and chief commercial officer, senior vice president of global sales and marketing, and prior to that as our vice president of global sales and marketing. He was an independent director of our company from September 2007 to June 2009. Mr. Zhuang has worked in corporate branding, sales and marketing positions with, or provided consulting services to, a variety of multinational companies for over 20 years. In 2008, he founded and became a director of INS Research and Consulting. Mr. Zhuang was the head of Asia for Hands-on Mobile, Inc., a global media and entertainment company with operations in China, South Korea and India, from 2006 to 2007. He previously served as its senior vice president of business operations and marketing in Asia. Before joining Hands-on Mobile, Inc., he held various marketing and business operation positions with Motorola Inc., including as its Asia Pacific regional director of marketing planning and consumer insight. Mr. Zhuang holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Northern Jiaotong University, China, a Master of Science degree in applied statistics from the University of Alberta, Canada and a Master of Science degree in marketing management from the University of Guelph, Canada.

Dr. Huifeng Chang has served as our senior vice president and chief financial officer since May 2016, and as a director of our company since September 2020. Mr. Chang is also an independent director, chair of the nominating committee, and a member of the audit and compensation committees of Scienjoy Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: SJ). He is also an independent director and a member of the audit committee of Denali Capital Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: DECAU). He has 19 years of experience in capital markets, financial investment and risk management. Before joining us, Dr. Chang was the cohead of Sales & Trading at the U.S. subsidiary of China International Capital Corp (“CICC”) from 2010 to 2015. Prior to that, he was the CEO of CSOP Asset Management based in Hong Kong from early 2008 to 2010, investing funds from China in the international markets. From 2000 to 2008, Dr. Chang was vice president and an equity proprietary trader at Citigroup Equity Proprietary Investments in New York. Before going to New York, Dr. Chang worked at Kamakura Corp in Hawaii as a risk consultant to banks in Asia. He received a Ph.D. in soil physics and MBA from University of Hawaii in the early 1990s, M.S. degree from Academia Sinica in 1987 and B.S. degree from Nanjing Agricultural University in 1984.