China Hongqiao : hires International Aluminium Institute's Knapp as adviser

Qingdao, CHINA (Reuters) - China Hongqiao Group, the world's biggest aluminium producer, has hired outgoing International Aluminium Institute (IAI) secretary general Ron Knapp as an international adviser with effect from Jan. 1 next year, Knapp told Reuters on Friday.

Knapp, who became secretary-general of the London-based IAI in December 2008, will step down at the end of this year to be replaced by Miles Prosser, who joins from the Australian Aluminium Council.

As adviser to the office of the chairman at Hongqiao, Knapp will be attached to the company's office in Hong Kong, but he also expects to spend time in London, at Hongqiao's production base in Shandong, and Australia.

"The role is to assist Chairman Zhang Bo in taking the Hongqiao story beyond China and into the world," Knapp told Reuters on the sidelines of the China Aluminum Week forum in Qingdao.

China Hongqiao did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

(Reporting by Tom Daly, Writing by Shivani Singh, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)