Beijing (AFP)
The CEO of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com will step aside from the day-to-day management of the company, the group announced, as Beijing tightens the screw on the technology sector.
After in particular Jack Ma, founder of his rival Alibaba, he is the latest leader of a large Chinese company to be more discreet in a context of regulatory takeover of the authorities.
Richard Liu (Chinese name Liu Qiangdong), who founded JD.com in 1998, will "devote more time to shaping the company's long-term strategies," the company said in a statement Monday evening. .
In recent months, China has launched a campaign to curb what it sees as "disorderly" development of internet companies.
For example, the authorities have called the giants of the sector to order on their abusive collection of personal data and the working conditions of their employees.
They also banned minors from playing online video games for more than three hours a week, in the name of reducing addiction phenomena.
JD.com is an e-commerce heavyweight in China and a competitor to industry leader Alibaba.
Richard Liu was arrested in the United States in 2018 after a rape complaint filed by a Chinese student.
However, he had been able to return to China shortly after.
JD.com did not give a specific reason for the withdrawal of its founder, pointing out that he remained the CEO of the company.
Its main rival, Jack Ma, has been keeping a low profile since November 2020 and the cancellation by the authorities of the IPO in China of the financial company Ant Group, affiliated with Alibaba.
Alibaba was also fined in April 2021 a record 2.3 billion euros for abuse of a dominant position.
The founder of ByteDance (owner of the TikTok app), Zhang Yiming, announced in May that he was stepping down as president of his group.
In March, Colin Huang left his post as president of the e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, officially to focus on philanthropy.
© 2021 AFP