JD's Liu steps down from key posts, retains control of company

Liu Qiangdong, the billionaire founder of Chinese e-commerce giant JD, has resigned as the legal representative, executive director and general manager of Beijing Jingdong Century Trading Co Ltd, the main operating entity of JD. Experts said the move does not mean that Liu will depart from the company as he still has absolute control over JD.

Xu Lei, chief executive officer of JD Retail, who is responsible for the development, operation and strategy of the company's retail business, took over as the executive director, manager and legal representative. JD downplayed the new change and described it as a "fairly normal management move".

Since this year, Liu has stepped down from the top management positions of 46 JD subsidiaries, including JD Digits, JD Logistics and JD Cloud, according to Tianyancha, a Chinese corporate information data provider.