BNY Mellon has been appointed by WH Group, the Chinese meat processing company, as the depositary bank for its American depositary receipt (ADR) programme, replacing previously unsponsored ADR facilities by Citi, Deutsche and JP Morgan.

Each ADR represents 20 ordinary shares and trades on the US over-the-counter (OTC) market under the symbol WGHPY.

WH Group’s ordinary shares trades on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the code, 288 HK.

"Given WH Group's significant presence in the US through Smithfield Foods, its wholly-owned subsidiary, we believe converting to a sponsored programme with BNY Mellon with help us to further enhance our brand and visibility and diversify our shareholder base in the long term," said Wan Long, chairman and CEO of WH Group.

WH Group is the latest global firm to convert from an unsponsored to a sponsored depositary receipt programme. Over the last three years, 20 companies from a dozen countries have switched to sponsored DR programmes with BNY Mellon.

Covestro, the Germany-headquartered polymer company, recently appointed BNY Mellon as the depositary bank for its sponsored ADR programme, replacing an unsponsored facility run by Citi, which announced the programme in April 2016. The conversion took effect 12 January.

WH Group, a global pork company with market share in China, the US and Europe, owns many well-rec