Liu, who is in his late 50s, will leave his position as vice president of another state-run Chinese aluminium producer, State Power Investment Corp Ltd (SPIC), according to a statement on Chinalco's official Wechat account. It described the switch as a decision by China's central government.

Liu had moved to SPIC in July 2018 after occupying several roles at Chinalco earlier in his career. He returns to take on the No. 2 position in the company that is now the world's biggest aluminium producer.

The combined output of Chinalco's main listed aluminium arm, Chalco, and another subsidiary, Yunnan Aluminium, was around 5.7 million tonnes last year, exceeding that of China Hongqiao Group.

Chinalco group companies also produce other nonferrous metals such as copper and zinc, as well as rare earths.

Yu, 60, had joined Chinalco in January 2016, also from SPIC, and is a former chairman of Chalco. It was not immediately clear what his next role wwould be.

Chalco is still without a permanent chairman following the departure of Lu Dongliang in May.

(Reporting by Min Zhang and Tom Daly; Editing by Edmund Blair and Louise Heavens)