Richard Liu, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, will step down as CEO. His departure comes after a number of high-ranking technology founders left their leadership positions amid Beijing’s regulatory crackdown on the domestic technology sector.
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JD.com founder billionaire Richard Liu has stepped down as CEO of the Chinese e-commerce giant, joining a number of high-ranking technology bosses who have given up their roles in the companies they started.
This comes as Beijing continues to tighten regulations in its local technology sector and look closely at companies’ business practices.
Sue Lei, president of JD.com, will take over as CEO and join the company’s board of directors with immediate effect.
This is the second change in the management of JD.com in the last seven months. Xu was named president in September after stepping down as head of retail at JD.com. Liu will remain chairman of the company’s board.
Liu has taken a more back seat approach at JD.com since he was accused of rape in 2018, a claim he denied.
Liu’s resignation as chief executive comes after a number of technology executives retired from the business they started last year. Last year, Colin Huang, founder of the fast-growing e-commerce company Pinduoduo, resigned as chairman. In November, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming resigned as chairman, and Su Hua, co-founder of the Kuaishou short video app, also resigned.
Beijing has tried to tighten regulations in areas ranging from antitrust to data protection and punished companies that violate its rules.
So far, JD.com has avoided any serious regulatory action, unlike its rival Alibaba, which was fined $ 2.8 billion in antitrust.
JD.com said Liu will focus on guiding the company’s long-term strategies, mentoring younger executives and contributing to rural revitalization – a key focus of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s quest for “common prosperity”, the government’s quest to moderate wealth for everything.