He was born in
Binzhou,
Shandong on 9 November 1958. He graduated from Shandong University with a bachelor's degree in economics and earned an MBA from the
University of Pittsburgh's Katz School of Business. In 2009, Ning was named Asia Business Leader of the Year by
CNBC Asia Pacific. In November 2012 Ning was elected as a member of the
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. In January 2016 he was succeeded as COFCO's head by Zhao Shuanglian. That year, Ning became the Chairman and
Party Secretary of
Sinochem. When ChemChina's chairman
Ren Jianxin retired in July 2018, Ning was appointed chairman of ChemChina, while retaining his chairmanship of Sinochem Group. In September 2020 he confirmed that
ChemChina and Sinochem Group were discussing a merger. At the time, he was chairman of both companies. As a consequence of his resignation on October 8, 2022 from Sinochem holdings,
Pirelli & C. S.p.A. announced he'd also resigned from all roles held on the company's board of directors. In March 2023, he was succeeded as chairman of Sinochem Holdings by
Li Fanrong. Ning remained chairman of
Syngenta. == Media ==