ByteDance CEO Zhang hands over baton to Liang

Billionaire Zhang Yiming, the founder of ByteDance, will step down as chief executive officer and hand over the reins to co-founder Liang Rubo later this year as the Chinese social media company gears up for the unprecedented changes both at home and abroad.

In an internal letter to employees, the 38-year-old Zhang, who founded several successful apps like TikTok, said he is making the transition to spend more time on "long-term strategy, corporate culture, and social responsibility".

"Although the business has been developing well, we hope that the company will continue to make greater innovations and breakthroughs, and become more creative and meaningful," said Zhang.