Alibaba to merge domestic and global e-commerce units, names Jiang Fan as CEO

The new group brings together Taobao and Tmall Group, Alibaba International and a slew of other e-commerce operations

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In another major corporate shake-up, Alibaba is putting both its domestic and international e-commerce operations under the leadership of Jiang Fan, who has delivered strong results for the company. Photo: Reuters

Ann Caoin Shanghai

Published: 7:17pm, 21 Nov 2024Updated: 8:55pm, 21 Nov 2024

Alibaba Group Holding will merge its domestic and overseas e-commerce operations into one unit and named Jiang Fan, the tech giant’s 39-year-old heir-apparent, as CEO, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

The reorganisation is the largest since Alibaba carved up its sprawling business empire into six distinct units in early 2023. It comes as China’s largest e-commerce firm has made moves seeking greater synergy across its domestic and international supply chains amid intensifying competition with domestic rivals such as Pinduoduo owner PDD Holdings, which has been expanding aggressively in international markets with its shopping app Temu in recent years.

Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

The new unit, officially named Alibaba E-commerce Business Group, will integrate the Taobao and Tmall Group, Alibaba International Digital Commerce, 1688 Marketplace, Idle Fish and other e-commerce operations.

In his new role, Jiang will report directly to Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu Yongming.

Jiang Fan, who currently leads Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group, will lead a new business unit that combines domestic and global e-commerce operations. Photo: Alibaba Group Holding

Jiang, who currently heads the international e-commerce arm, delivered strong revenue growth for the group in the last quarter. Alibaba International revenue surged 29 per cent year on year to 31.7 billion yuan (US$4.4 billion) in the September quarter. This dwarfed Alibaba’s overall 5 per cent revenue growth for the quarter.