Jeff Liao takes over eBay China helm to better fight off Taobao

EBay, the world's largest online auction company, has replaced its China head who had held the post for only 12 months, as the company seeks to strengthen its management edge in competition with local leader Taobao.

Jeff Liao, the present chief executive of eBay's online payment service, PayPal China, will keep that role while taking up the same post at eBay Eachnet from Martin Wu. EBay entered the China market by acquiring Eachnet in 2003.

'The appointment will help us to combine the power of eBay Eachnet and PayPal to leverage on resources, strengthen our local operations and increase the value we provide our buyers, sellers and local partners,' said Jay Lee, regional vice-president of eBay.

EBay, which charges a small fee for its services, is seeking to wrest market share from Taobao, owned by Alibaba, which offers a free platform for sellers and buyers.

Mr Liao joined PayPal China as general manager in January last year to introduce eBay's online payment services to the mainland.

He was previously general manager for three years of Standard Chartered Bank in China with responsibility for business financial services, small and medium-enterprise banking and credit cards.

He has also been an executive for GE Capital Taiwan and Hong Kong, Citicorp and American Express.