The SPH division publishes three Chinese dailies - Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao and Shin Min Daily News - two student weeklies, two magazines and also produces the daily Channel U news bulletins.
Hu has also been placed in charge of the newspaper services division, which is responsible for the printing and circulation of the group's 14 newspapers and foreign publications.
Hu was most recently the managing director of global business in SingTel's wholly-owned subsidiary, National Computer Systems.
Prior to that, he worked for six years in China in a number of senior roles including as regional director for China and deputy director of the Singapore Software Project Office at the Suzhou Industrial Park near Shanghai, as well as industry and investment counsellor at the Singapore Embassy and Beijing managing director of Asiacontent.com.
Before his China stint, he spent 12 years at the National Computer Board in Singapore.