The move comes just 15 months after taking the corner office at the Alibaba affiliate.

His exit marks ants first managerial change since the financial technology giant scrapped its $37 billion I pio last year.

He was one of the key executives in charge of managing what would have been the world's largest initial public offering.

The change also comes days after some employees expressed frustration on social media for not being able to cash in their shares after Chinese regulators abruptly halted the company's market debut and has since been revamping its business after facing intense regulatory pressure to subject it to rules and capital requirements similar to banks.

The crackdown on Alibaba founder Jack Ma's business empire began last fall after the billionaire blasted China's regulatory system in a speech regulator's move to rein in and and launched an antitrust probe into Alibaba in December, replacing who is executive chairman Eric Jing, who had earlier served as CEO.

Alibaba's U.