Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, delivers a speech at the 2020 China Green Company Summit held in Haikou, Hainan Province, China on September 29, 2020.
Liu Yang|Visual China Group|Getty Images
Ant Group President and Chief Financial Officer Han Cyril will take over as CEO starting next year, the fintech giant announced on Sunday as it looks to revive growth after Beijing crackdowns on the tech industry.
Han will succeed Eric Jing, who will remain chairman, according to an email seen by CNBC announcing the changes. Han will report to Jing, and the changes will take effect on March 1, 2025.
Ant Group, which operates giant payments app Alipay, is one of China’s largest technology companies. The management changes were announced as part of the company’s 20th anniversary celebrations, which also included a speech Alibaba and Jack Ma, founder of Ant Group.
Jack Ma said that his generation is lucky to have seized the opportunities brought by the Internet. However, according to transcripts released by Chinese media, Jack Ma said that the artificial intelligence era in the next 20 years will “beyond everyone’s imagination.”
Ma, who rarely makes public appearances, has been affected by the Chinese government’s tightening of regulations on the domestic technology industry. Ant Group’s supposedly record-breaking public listing was abruptly canceled by Chinese authorities at the end of 2020.
Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company co-founded by Jack Ma, has also come under scrutiny from Beijing.
The crackdown has hurt the growth of many of China’s largest technology companies, but regulators have recently softened their stance as the country’s economy remains under pressure.
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