Chun Li takes on top job at Lazada

Alibaba Group has appointed Chun Li as Group CEO at Lazada, its e-commerce venture in Southeast Asia.

Li has been with Alibaba since 2014, joining as Chief Technology Officer at the company’s B2B division.

He moved to Lazada in 2017 and has since served as both Group President and CEO, Lazada Indonesia. Prior to Alibaba, he held leadership positions at PayPal and eBay.

Li is set to take over the role of Lazada Group CEO from Pierre Poignant, who will become a special assistant to Alibaba Group Chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang. Poignant co-founded Lazada in 2012.

“I truly believe that we are well-positioned in Southeast Asia to take advantage of the great opportunities in this evolving digital economy. We can make meaningful contributions to the ecosystem through our technology innovation and logistics infrastructure,” Li says.

He added that Lazada would ramp up its technology investment in Southeast Asia to “ensure it maintains its competitive advantage”. The company claims to be the top e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia with more than 50 million active buyers annually.