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ByteDance CEO Kelly Zhang is responsible for ByteDance’s products in the domestic market, leading product management and operations, marketing, and partnerships. Photo: Handout
TechTech leaders and founders

TikTok owner ByteDance’s China head debuts on Fortune’s list of most powerful women in business

  • ByteDance’s Kelly Zhang debuts at 45th place this year on Fortune magazine’s list of women leading the global corporate world from outside the US
  • The list of 50 also includes Chinese tech veterans such as Ping An’s Jessica Tan, Gree’s Dong Mingzhu and Alibaba’s Maggie Wu
China technology
Karen Chiu
Karen Chiu
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As TikTok gains prominence globally, the leaders of its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance are also attracting more attention.
ByteDance China CEO Kelly Zhang, for instance, has appeared on Fortune magazine’s international list of the 50 most powerful women in business for the first time this year.
Zhang, who joined ByteDance in 2014 and was promoted to head the company’s China business in March this year, was ranked 45th on the annual list which highlights the most powerful women in business based outside the United States.

In her current role, she oversees ByteDance’s star product line-up including TikTok’s Chinese counterpart, Douyin, which she was also previously in charge of, as well as domestically viral news aggregator Toutiao and its sister search engine Toutiao Search.

Born in the 1980s according to local media reports, Zhang is one of the youngest names on the list – especially among those from the Chinese tech industry, who are mostly veterans.

Breaking down China's most popular news app, Toutiao

Among the China-based executives, Ping An Group co-CEO Jessica Tan leads the pack at second place, after debuting on the list at fourth place last year.

Ping An Group, China’s biggest insurer, has been aggressively pushing online with new services like internet health consultation services and wealth management apps.

Tan, a mother of two, told the Post in 2016 that she believed a successful woman should be able to “excel in both – career and family life”.
Dong Mingzhu, the Gree Electric Appliances chairwoman dubbed the “air conditioner queen” of China, was ranked fifth on the list.
A feminist legend of sorts in the male-dominated business world, Dong is said to have not taken a day off from work for about 30 years.

Gree Electric chairwoman snags sales of US$44 million in live stream

Not one to shy away from the media, the colourful character once called rivals Xiaomi and Midea “thieves” after Gree sued and won a patent infringement case against Midea.

Other notable Chinese tech names on the list include Alibaba Group Holding CFO Maggie Wu, who was ranked 11th, Apple’s vice-president and managing director for the Greater China region Isabel Ge Mahe at 12th and Didi Chuxing president Jean Liu at 15th.

(Alibaba is the parent company of the Post.)

Online travel agency Trip.com’s CEO Jane Jie Sun, who made headlines in the past few years for introducing women-friendly policies in her company, also appeared on the list at 40th place. At Trip.com, female executives are reimbursed for the costs of egg freezing and all breastfeeding mothers are encouraged to bring their babies on business trips.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: ByteDance China CEO debuts on Fortune list
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