Recent leadership changes at Alibaba’s e-commerce division see veterans retire and younger leaders take over.

Many high-ranking executives at Taobao and Tmall Group have retired, paving the way for a younger generation of leaders to take the reins of Alibaba Group Holding’s main e-commerce unit amid stiffening competition from rivals such as PDD Holdings’ Pinduoduo and ByteDance’s Douyin.

According to Chinese media reports, on May 1, senior executives including Wang Hai, Liu Peng, Yu Feng and Wang Mingqiang left Taobao and Tmall Group.

Their departure comes months after Alibaba, the owner of the South China Morning Post, promoted six young executives to lead its key Taobao and Tmall Group businesses, part of a leadership shake-up under Alibaba chief executive Eddie Wu Yongming, who took over as director in December last year. director of the e-commerce unit, of which he has been president since May 2023.

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Taobao and Tmall Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Alibaba Group Holding chief executive Eddie Wu Yongming took over as chief executive of e-commerce units Taobao and Tmall Group last December, where he has served as chairman since May 2023. Photo: Alibaba alt=Alibaba Group Holding chief executive Eddie Wu Yongming last December he took over as CEO of the e-commerce units of Taobao and Tmall Group, where he has been president since May 2023. Photo: Alibaba>

Recent leadership changes at Taobao and Tmall Group show Alibaba heeding co-founder Jack Ma’s calls to “believe” young people and “give more power” in their internal memo last month.

Wu, who became Alibaba’s chief executive last September, said the Hangzhou-based company is committed to supporting the career development of younger employees so they can move into management positions.

“Over the next four years, we will promote people born after 1985 and 1990 to form the core of our corporate management teams,” he wrote in an internal letter at the time.

Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares closed 0.65 percent lower at HK$76.30 on Thursday.

A large Taobao mascot is displayed outdoors at the headquarters of Alibaba Group Holding. Photo: Shutterstock alt=A large outdoor Taobao mascot is displayed at the headquarters of Alibaba Group Holding. Photo: Shutterstock>

According to Alibaba’s latest annual report released last week, Wang Hai – who served as vice president at Taobao and Tmall Group – was one of two names removed from the company’s list of partners. He joined Alibaba in 2003 and led key e-commerce operations including 1688.com and Taobao Special Offer Edition.

Chinese retail industry veteran Liu Peng was director of the Taobao and Tmall Group brand development center and other consumer retail operations.

Yu Feng served as vice president of Taobao’s content division after joining Alibaba in 2006, and also worked at mobile payment platform Alipay for 13 years. Wang Mingqiang, who joined Alibaba in 2005, has held leadership positions at Taobao’s search division and at AliExpress, the e-commerce giant’s international shopping platform.

Other Alibaba veterans who have stepped down since the tech conglomerate announced a sweeping restructuring in March include former chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang Yong and Yu Yongfu, who previously led the company’s Local Services Group.

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