Chinese online retail giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA)has announced that it is reorganizing its international and domestic e-commerce businesses and replacing its chief financial officer (CFO).
The changes come as the technology company manages an onslaught of new competition, a slowing economy, and an ongoing regulatory crackdown. Alibaba says it is creating two new units - international digital commerce and China digital commerce, which is part of efforts to become more agile and accelerate growth moving forward.
The international digital commerce unit will include "AliExpress" that sells directly to retail buyers, particularly in Europe and South America, its Southeast Asian e-commerce business Lazada and Alibaba.com that is focused on selling to overseas business customers.
The international unit will be headed by Jiang Fan, who had overseen its main Chinese retail marketplaces, and the change is seen in line with Alibaba's aim to make globalization a key focus area in addition to cloud computing and domestic consumer spending.
Alibaba also announced that deputy CFO Toby Xu will succeed Maggie Wu as the company’s main CFO starting in April next year, describing his appointment as part of the company's leadership succession plan. Xu joined Alibaba three years ago.
The e-commerce giant's Hong Kong-listed shares slid 6% in early morning trading, tracking Friday’s declines. U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba have fallen on concerns about stricter regulatory scrutiny at home in the wake of plans by Didi Global to delist from the New York Stock Exchange.
