SINGAPORE (AP) – Chinese e-commerce company JD.com said yesterday that its founder Richard Liu has left his position as CEO, the latest Chinese billionaire founder to step aside amid increased government scrutiny of the country’s technology industry.
Liu will hand over the reins to JD.com’s president Xu Lei, according to a company statement.
Liu will remain as the chairman of the board and continue to focus on JD.com’s “long-term strategies, mentoring younger management, and contributing to the revitalisation of rural areas”, the statement said.
“I’ll devote more of my time to JD’s long-term strategies and future drivers as we continue to work on the most challenging yet valuable things,” Liu said.
Liu is the latest in a string of Chinese technology company founders who have stepped down from leadership positions in recent years. Last year, e-commerce firm Pinduoduo’s founder Colin Huang resigned as chairman and Bytedance founder Zhang Yiming also left his position as chairman of the firm.
The departures came as Beijing cracked down on the country’s once-freewheeling technology industry over antitrust concerns and fears that China’s technology giants were wielding too much influence over society.
JD.com’s stock price has plunged 27 per cent over the past year. Its New York-listed stock closed down three per cent to USD59.07 on the Nasdaq ahead of the announcement yesterday.
Like many Chinese technology companies, JD.com’s finances have suffered over the past year. The company reported a net loss of 5.2 billion yuan (USD817 million) for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to a net income of 24.3 billion yuan (USD3.8 billion) in the previous year, even as revenue grew 23 per cent.
E-commerce firms like JD.com and rival Alibaba have been suffering from economic headwinds and a slowdown in consumption, as well as increased competition from other players such as short-video companies like Kuaishou that have begun incorporating e-commerce functions into their platforms.
