Billionaire founding father of China’s JD.com steps down as CEO as Beijing’s tech crackdown continues

Richard Liu, the founding father of Chinese language e-commerce massive JD.com, will step down from his position as CEO. His departure comes after plenty of high-profile generation founders exited their management positions amid Beijing’s regulatory crackdown on its home tech sector.

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JD.com’s billionaire founder Richard Liu has stepped down as leader government of the Chinese language e-commerce massive, becoming a member of a slew of high-profile tech bosses who’ve relinquished their roles on the corporations they began.

That comes as Beijing continues to tighten legislation on its home generation sector and scrutinize the trade practices of businesses.

Xu Lei, the president of JD.com, will take over as CEO and sign up for the corporate’s board of administrators, with instant impact.

It’s the second one control reshuffle for JD.com within the ultimate seven months. In September, Xu was once appointed president after leaving his position as head of JD.com’s retail trade. Liu will stay as chairman of the corporate’s board.

Liu has taken extra of a backseat method at JD.com since he was once accused of rape in 2018, an allegation he has denied.

Liu’s departure from the CEO position comes after plenty of generation executives stepped again from the companies they based within the ultimate 12 months or so. Remaining 12 months, Colin Huang, the founding father of fast-growing e-commerce corporate Pinduoduo, resigned as chairman. In November, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming stepped down as chairman and Su Hua, the co-founder of quick video app Kuaishou, additionally resigned.

Beijing has sought to tighten legislation in spaces from antitrust to information coverage and has punished corporations that fall foul of its laws.

To this point, JD.com has escaped any main regulatory motion, in contrast to its rival Alibaba, which was once hit with a $2.8 billion anti-monopoly high-quality.

JD.com mentioned Liu will focal point on guiding the corporate’s long-term methods, mentoring more youthful control, and contributing to the revitalization of rural spaces — a key focal point of Chinese language President Xi Jinping’s “commonplace prosperity” force, the federal government’s push towards average wealth for all.