Several senior executives at Taobao and Tmall Group have retired, paving the way for a younger generation of leaders to take charge of Alibaba Group Holding’s core e-commerce unit as competition intensifies with rivals such as PDD Holdings’ Pinduoduo and ByteDance-owned Douyin.
According to Chinese media reports on Wednesday, senior executives Wang Hai, Liu Peng, Yu Feng, and Wang Mingqiang retired from Taobao and Tmall Group on May 1.
Their departures come a few months after Alibaba promoted six young executives to lead key departments within Taobao and Tmall Group.
This management reshuffle was part of a broader strategy under Alibaba chief executive Eddie Wu Yongming, who took over as CEO of the e-commerce unit in December 2022 and has served as chairman since May 2023.
Taobao and Tmall Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Eddie Wu Yongming, who became Alibaba Group Holding’s chief executive last September, reiterated the company’s commitment to advancing the careers of younger employees and positioning them for leadership roles.
In an internal memo last month, company co-founder Jack Ma emphasized the importance of “believing in” and “giving more power” to young people.
Wu highlighted this commitment in an internal letter, stating, “Within the next four years, we will promote those born after 1985 and [the] 1990s to form the core of our business management teams.”
Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares closed 0.65 percent lower at HK$76.30 on Thursday.
According to Alibaba’s latest annual report released last week, Wang Hai, a vice-president at Taobao and Tmall Group, was one of two names removed from the company’s partner list.
Wang joined Alibaba in 2003 and has led key e-commerce operations, including 1688.com and Taobao Special Offer Edition.
