JD.com Parent Company Hires Academic For Global Expansion

Chinese B2C e-commerce service provider JD Group announced the establishment of a strategy unit and international business expansion unit.

At the same time, the group appointed Liao Jianwen as chief strategy officer of JD Group and it appointed Winston Cheng as international business president of JD Group. Both Liao and Cheng will directly report to Liu Qiangdong, chairman and chief executive officer of JD Group.

Before joining JD, Liao was associate dean of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, professor of strategic innovation and entrepreneurship management practice, and academic director of the innovation research center. He previously taught at IIT Stuart School of Business, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Peking University, and China Europe International Business School.

After joining JD, Liao will focus on business models and strategic planning research to improve JD's overall strategic thinking and strategic organizational skills.

Cheng graduated from University of California, Berkeley and he has over 20 years of experience in investment banks. He previously participated in many major capital operation projects, including Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's server business; listing of JD Group; and Tencent's e-commerce business acquisition.