Daniel Zhang Yong, the 51-year-old Chinese business executive, has announced his resignation as Alibaba Group (BABA) Holding chairman and chief executive to focus on Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of the group. 

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Zhang will be succeeded as chairman by Joseph C. Tsai, who is currently executive vice-chairman, and Eddie Wu Yongming, chairman of Taobao & Tmall Group, will become CEO. Zhang will continue on at the company as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. The change will take effect on September 10.

As members of Alibaba's founding team, Tsai and Wu have made significant contributions to the historical development of the Alibaba Group. Tsai's global experience and insight into the macro environment provide strong support for Alibaba's further internationalization as he served as CFO of Alibaba Group from 1999 to 2013, and led the company's IPO in New York in 2014. Served as the CTO of many important businesses such as B2B, Taobao, and Alipay, Wu has a strong technical background and will further broaden Alibaba's technical vision and explore a new direction with cutting-edge technology as the development engine.

The moves follow a major restructuring of Alibaba in March when the company announced plans to split into six independently run entities, each free to raise funds and separately pursue an IPO. In addition to Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group, the separate units include Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics, Global Digital Commerce Group, and the Digital Media and Entertainment Group.

After the restructuring, Alibaba Group will play the role of innovation incubation base, exploring, discovering, incubating, and nurturing more innovative businesses. The return of the two co-founders will create new opportunities and value in brand-new positions.

According to Alibaba, in the future, the company will not only support and coordinate the development of various business groups but also become the discoverer and promoter of new technologies and the home base for innovative business incubation, creating more incremental value. Tsai and Wu have the global vision, abundant experience, strong influence, and convening power, and are the best choices to take on these responsibilities.

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