Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. elevated e-commerce head Jiang Fan while trimming the members of a longstanding leadership body, as the Chinese tech giant pivots towards AI and overseas expansion.

Jiang, who runs core Alibaba businesses, including Taobao and Tmall, has joined a five-member Partnership Committee that in turn steers a group of partners that sit atop the company. That group, which nominates company directors among other things, has shrunk to 17 from 26 members, Alibaba said in its annual report released Thursday. The 39-year-old Jiang becomes the youngest member of the powerful body, which includes Chairman Joe Tsai and CEO Eddie Wu. 

Those leaving the committee include high-profile veterans such as ex-CEO Daniel Zhang, co-founder Lucy Peng and former CFO Maggie Wu, part of an old guard who helped build Alibaba into China’s largest e-commerce operation.

Jiang’s overseas e-commerce division has been a bright spot in recent earnings as the company seeks to turn the page following years of regulatory pressure from Beijing.

Alibaba’s partnership system operates as an internal leadership body, wielding outsized influence over board nominations despite lacking formal governance power.

Partner changes have historically reflected Alibaba’s strategic turns — expanding when Jack Ma stepped down as CEO in 2013, then contracting as the company recalibrated under regulatory pressure. Now, with competition intensifying in both e-commerce and AI, the slimmed-down partnership suggests a leaner Alibaba — one betting big on Jiang’s overseas success and Wu’s push into AI.

Jiang rose to become a partner in 2019 after joining the group in 2013 — only to be ousted a year later following a personal scandal. His comeback came in 2022, when he was tapped to lead Alibaba’s overseas e-commerce arm, the International Digital Commerce Group.

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Published on June 27, 2025