Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma speaks at the 2020 China Green Enterprise Summit held in Haikou, Hainan Province, China on September 29, 2020.
Liu Yang | Visual China Group | Getty Images
Ant Group president and finance chief Cyril Han will become chief executive from next year, the financial technology giant announced on Sunday, seeking to reignite growth following a crackdown on the tech sector by the Chinese government. It is said that
Han will take over the role from Eric Jin, who will remain chairman, according to an email announcing the move seen by CNBC. Mr. Han will report to Mr. Jing and the changes will take effect on March 1, 2025.
Ant Group, which operates the large-scale payment app Alipay, is one of China’s largest technology companies. The leadership change was announced as part of the company’s 20th anniversary celebration, which included a speech from Mr. alibaba and Jack Ma, founder of Ant Group.
Ma said his generation was lucky to seize the opportunities the internet brought. However, according to a transcript published by Chinese media, Ma said that the era of artificial intelligence over the next 20 years will “beyond everyone’s imagination.”
It is rare for Mr. Ma, who has been affected by the Chinese government’s tightening of regulations on the domestic high-tech sector, to appear in public. Ant Group’s listing, which was supposed to be a record-breaker, was abruptly canceled by Chinese authorities at the end of 2020. Since then, Ant Group has undertaken a thorough review of its operations to comply with regulators.
Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce company co-founded by Ma, has also come under Chinese government scrutiny.
The crackdown has hurt the growth of many of China’s biggest technology companies, but regulators have recently softened their stance as China’s economy remains under pressure.
