Texas Business reports:  HOUSTON—Synthesis Energy Systems Inc. appointed Gao Feng, chairman and president of Hongye International Investment Group Co. Ltd. to the company's board, filling the vacancy created by the passing of Michael Storey in October 2011.

 Gao is joining SES' board of directors pursuant to the terms of the share purchase agreement between the company and Hongye. On September 24, 2012, SES announced the closing of a strategic equity investment by Hongye for a total of $8.7 million, representing 5,777,700 shares or 9.99% of SES' common stock.

Since 2007,  Gao, age 42, has been the chairman and president of Hongye, which is headquartered in Beijing, China. Hongye is a private, diversified group operating in the energy & natural resources, finance and bio-pharmaceuticals industries.  

Gao has more than 20 years of experience in the coking and coal mining business. These include working as plant manager at coking plants and serving as chairman and mine manager of various coal mining companies in Inner Mongolia, China.

Gao is currently serving as a representative of the Wuhai Municipal People's Congress, committee member of the China National Democratic Construction Association Inner Mongolia division, vice chairman and vice president of the Federation of Industry and Commerce of Inner Mongolia and director of the China Enterprise Confederation. During  Gao's career, he has received numerous important awards, including "Moral Youth Model of China," "Caring Entrepreneur of China" and "Honest and Trustworthy Entrepreneur in China."

 Gao's appointment brings the number of SES Board members to seven.

“I am pleased to welcome Mr. Gao to the company's board of directors, said chairman Lorenzo Lamadrid in a prepared statement. “His breadth and depth of experience in the Chinese coal industry combined with his impressive reputation and business track record will be very important to maximizing the value our technology platform in China. Our plans to integrate ownership of coal resources with valuable projects utilizing our technology are well aligned with the objectives of Mr. Gao and Hongye. The company is working closely with Hongye now to advance these objectives. We look forward to the added perspective and experience Mr. Gao will bring to the SES board, which we believe will be very helpful for realizing our full potential in China.”

“I am very excited about the proven ability of SES' gasification technology to unlock the value in low rank coals and turn these feedstocks into high-value chemicals and clean fuel products that can address multi-billion dollar global industries including power, fuel, chemicals and steel,” said Gao in a statement. “Low rank coal is an abundant but underutilized natural resource in China, especially in Inner Mongolia, where Hongye is looking to expand its coal-to-chemicals business. I believe SES' technology has the potential to enable the company and Hongye to achieve their ambitious growth objectives while helping China to realize its energy security and environmental goals. I look forward to working with the SES Board and the senior management team to drive our success.”

 SES provides technology, equipment and engineering services for the conversion of low rank, low cost coal and biomass feedstocks into energy and chemical products. Its strategy is to create value through providing technology and equipment in regions where low rank coals and biomass feedstocks can be profitably converted into high value products through its proprietary U-GAS  fluidized bed gasification technology, which SES licenses from the Gas Technology Institute.