Alibaba Group Holding Ltd announced Monday that it would restructure its foreign and domestic e-commerce divisions and install a new chief financial officer.
Toby Xu will take over as CFO, replacing Maggie Wu on April 1, the company announced late Sunday.
The changes come as the company contends with a number of obstacles, including greater competition, a declining economy, and regulatory scrutiny.
According to the announcement, Wu will remain a member of the Alibaba Partnership and serve as an executive director on the board of directors of the internet behemoth.
Separately, Alibaba announced the formation of two Digital Commerce teams, one for foreign markets led by Jiang Fan and another for domestic markets led by Trudy Dai.
Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares were down 8% in early morning trade, extending the year's losses to more than half, as Didi Global Inc.'s plans to delist from the New York Stock Exchange stoked renewed anxiety about Chinese internet firms listed in the United States.
After paying a record antitrust penalties earlier this year, the online retailer has been forced to negotiate heightened regulatory scrutiny while fending off increased competition, which caused it to lower its revenue forecast last month.
In response to the growing hurdles, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang is devolving some authority to the heads of the company's business units in an effort to make the divisions more agile, reports said.
"We are long-term oriented, and succession within our management team is always in the service of strengthening and better positioning Alibaba for the future," Zhang said in Sunday's statement.
Wu has worked for the Chinese e-commerce giant for than 15 years and was influential in the company's New York and Hong Kong listings.
Her departure is all the more remarkable given Wu's prominence as a female CEO in China's internet sector. Xu joined Alibaba three years ago as a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and was promoted to deputy CFO in July 2019.
Alibaba said on its website that the International Digital Commerce unit will supervise the AliExpress logistics service, Alibaba.com, and Southeast Asian marketplace Lazada.
Jiang, who will be responsible for expanding Alibaba's 285 million foreign customers, joined the business in 2013 and previously oversaw Taobao and Tmall, the company's primary Chinese e-commerce sites.
The business's annual Singles' Day shopping spree grew at the slowest rate on record this year, as the company reduced advertising and moved its attention to philanthropy and sustainability efforts to better match with Beijing's values.
