Zhang Yiming steps down as CEO of ByteDance

Zhang Yiming, the founder of ByteDance, will step down as the group chief executive behind the popular video app TikTok. This is the most recent withdrawal of Chinese technology leaders during Beijing’s crackdown on the industry.

Zhang, 38, founded ByteDance about ten years ago, pushing the Beijing-based team to launch a series of popular apps, including TikTok and its sister Chinese platform Douyin.He also led the company through a period of time U.S.-China tensions.

ByteDance said that Zhang will step down as CEO at the end of this year and will be replaced by co-founder and head of human resources Liang Lubo.

The transition comes from the company Consider an IPOPeople familiar with the matter said that the company’s recent private market valuation reached more than $200 billion, and its stock is currently trading.

“Since the beginning of this year, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to better promote real long-term breakthroughs, which can not only rely on stability but gradual progress,” Zhang wrote in the company blog.

Zhang said that he will stay at the company full-time, but will work on a “long-term plan” and help “drive innovation by leveraging my highly focused learning advantages.”

“I lack some skills to be an ideal manager,” Zhang wrote. He added: “I am more interested in analyzing organizational and market principles,” he said “not very social” and likes “online, reading, listening to music, and daydreaming in separate activities.”

With the decline of China’s technology industry, his resignation has also arrived. Regulatory attack, And followed other high-profile exits by leading technology companies.

Colin Huang, founder of Pinduoduo Exit the e-commerce group In March, the restaurant group Meituan also faced Antitrust Probe.

November Chinese regulators Suspend the US$37 billion initial public offering At the last moment, this will be the largest fintech Ant Group ever listed on the stock market.

Alibaba, Ant’s e-commerce branch, was Record fine of 2.8 billion U.S. dollars Last month, after regulators discovered that it had abused its dominant market position.

Jack Ma, the founder of the two companies Rarely seen in public Since criticizing China’s regulators and state-owned banks in a speech in Shanghai late last year.

Supplementary report by Liu Nian in Beijing