TikTok Rival Kuaishou's CEO Quits As Tech Crackdown Intensifies

Kuaishou, the Chinese short video-sharing app that's known as a popular alternative to TikTok, has replaced its CEO — the latest leadership reshuffle in Chinese tech, Michelle Toh reported for CNN Business.

Photo Insert: Su Hua is also co-founder of the short video streaming platform, Kuaishou.

The Beijing-based company announced late Friday that co-founder Su Hua was stepping down from the role while staying on as chairman of the board. Su's fellow co-founder, Cheng Yixiao, was appointed chief executive on Friday.

Kuaishou said that Su would be dedicating more time to its long-term strategy, while Cheng assumed responsibility of day-to-day operations. Su's departure is another example of how some of the country's top C-suites have gotten a refresh amid a widening regulatory clampdown.

In September, e-commerce giant JD.com (JD) said that billionaire CEO Richard Liu would shift some of his focus to long-term strategy as the company took on a new president to help manage its daily affairs.

Earlier this year, Zhang Yiming, the founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, also announced that he would step down as CEO to take a less prominent role in the company.

And Pinduoduo (PDD) founder Colin Huang said in March that he would quit as chairman of an upstart e-commerce company that competes with the likes of Alibaba. Huang left his position as CEO last summer, Laura He and Jill Disis also reported for CNN Business.

Zhang and Huang said they were departing to try new things. Neither of them referred to the government crackdown in their announcements, while a ByteDance spokesperson said that Zhang's decision to step down was not related to regulatory moves in China.

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