JD Logistics’ Hong Kong-born CEO Yu Yui, 41, steps down after two years in role

Yu, who became CEO of the logistics arm of JD.com in December 2020, has resigned for personal health reasons
Yu, said to be born in a middle class family in Hong Kong, will be succeeded by Hu Wei, formerly the product development chief at JD.com

E-commerce

Che Panin Beijing

Published: 8:00pm, 26 Jun 2023

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The CEO of JD Logistics for the last two years, 41-year-old Yu Yui, has stepped down for personal health reasons, the company has announced, in one of the latest executive-level reshuffles in the business empire founded by Chinese billionaire Richard Liu Qiangdong.

Yu, a permanent resident of Hong Kong who started at e-commerce giant JD.com as a management trainee in 2008 and climbed the corporate ladder to helm the company’s logistics arm, resigned as CEO, executive director and the authorised representative of Hong Kong-listed JD Logistics effective from Monday, according to a stock filing.

The company thanked Yu for his leadership in “ensuring supply of services during the fight against Covid, the official launch of JD Airlines, [and] the strategic acquisition of Deppon Logistics”.

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Yu, who has been described by several Chinese media reports as someone “born in a typical middle class family in Hong Kong”, will be succeeded by Hu Wei, formerly the product development chief at JD.com.

The changes came a week after JD.com laid out an ambitious growth plan on June 18, its 20th anniversary, as competition intensifies in China’s already heated e-commerce market.

Under its “35711 Vision”, the Beijing-based firm wants to establish in the next 20 years three enterprises, each with over 1 trillion yuan (US$140 billion) in revenue and 70 billion yuan in net profit; five enterprises on the Fortune Global 500 list; and seven listed companies – each with a market cap of at least 100 billion yuan.

In another recent personnel shift at JD.com, Xu Lei, who took over as CEO from founder Liu about a year ago, retired from the company for “personal reasons”. Xu Ran, was promoted to CEO from chief financial officer, reporting directly to Liu.

Employee sort packages at a JD facility in Kuchan, China’s Jiangsu province. Photo: Bloomberg

Yu, who spent years honing his knowledge in the logistics business, which often involves manual labour in warehouses, in December 2020 became one of the youngest senior executives at JD.com when he assumed the role of CEO of JD Logistics, five months before its Hong Kong initial public offering.

Hu, the next CEO of JD Logistics, joined the parent company in 2010 and has served in regional head roles at the logistics arm.

JD Logistics, which oversees some 370,000 delivery personnel, saw its first-quarter revenue rise 34 per cent year on year to 36.7 billion yuan, as net losses narrowed 29 per cent to 988.8 million yuan, its latest financial statement showed.

Its share price closed at HK$12.24 on Monday, up less than 1 per cent.

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