HP has created a new chairman role for China region and appointed Robert Mao as new China chairman, reporting directly to president and CEO of HP, Meg Whitman.

Chen Lei, spokesperson of HP China, said the creating of this new role represents HP's attention to the Chinese market.

Prior to the setting of the China chairman role, the China region needed to report to the Asia Pacific region, which would then report to the global CEO. With this change, China will directly report to the global CEO, which expects to bring flexibility in future decision-making.

A native of Zhejiang province, Mao, 69, is a global leader in the telecom industry. Prior to this appointment, Mao worked as a strategic consultant for HP for three years. Formerly serving as CEO of 3Com Corporation, he led the company through its acquisition by HP in 2010. Before that, he worked as CEO of Nortel Networks China from 1997 to 2006 and president of Alcatel-Lucent China from 1995 to 1997.

In his new role as chairman of HP China, Mao will be responsible for all businesses and operations in China.