Alibaba’s Aus boss to step down

ALIBABA’S Chinese-born Australia and New Zealand managing director Maggie Zhou is stepping down from the company, ending a 22-year history with the Chinese ecommerce giant.

Ms Zhou (pictured) was one of the first employees of Alibaba when it was founded in Hangzhou by the charismatic Jack Ma in 1999.

She moved to Melbourne in 2017 to open an Australian arm of the company, which was formally opened by Mr Ma on a later visit.

Ms Zhou will move into a role as a senior adviser to the Jack Ma Foundation.

The regional offices of Alibaba will now be run by New Zealand-based Pier Smulders, who will oversee the Alibaba operations in both countries.

The move comes at a time when trade between Australia and China has been affected by increasing political tensions and Covid travel restrictions, which have stopped the oncethriving business of mainland Chinese tourism to Australia.

Chinese university student numbers are also down due to the same factors.

Visiting Chinese and temporary residents like students were enthusiastic proponents of Australian products in China such as infant formula, beauty and healthcare products, often selling Australian products on Alibaba platforms.

“When I joined Alibaba more than two decades ago, I could never have imagined the exciting journey that lay ahead of me,” Ms Zhou said on a post on Linkedin on Monday.

“I’m extremely proud of all that we’ve accomplished as a company, including being listed in New York and Hong Kong, as well as the many innovative technologies we’ve developed that have transformed the way we live, work and play.”

Ms Zhou called her decision to move to Melbourne to lead Alibaba’s operations in Australia and New Zealand six years ago “one of the most incredible adventures of my career”.