Alibaba announced on Tuesday that the current executive vice chairman Joseph Tsai will succeed Daniel Zhang as chairman and CEO in September.
In a statement, Zhang said it was the right time for him to step down as the company prepares to undertake a full spin-off of its advanced cloud computing unit.
Hangzhou-based Alibaba is a leading Chinese technology company, with operations in cloud computing, e-commerce, logistics, media and entertainment, and artificial intelligence.
According to the company, Zhang will continue to serve as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group beyond the management change.
In recent years, the firm has faced numerous unusual headwinds as Beijing imposed tightened restrictions on the domestic tech sector.
Alibaba announced in late March that it would be divided into six business groups in one of the most substantial restructurings of a big Chinese technology giant to date.
