China's top tech chiefs are stepping down from their leadership roles amid Beijing's sweeping crackdown on the sector.
E-commerce giant JD.com's wealthy founder Richard Liu is the most recent executive to step down. Last week, the company said Liu is leaving his role as chief executive but will stay on to chair the board.
Last year, both Zhang Yiming, founder of TikTok-owner ByteDance, and Su Hua, founder of TikTok's main rival Kuaishou, gave up CEO positions.
In 2020, Colin Huang, founder of popular e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, stepped down as CEO.
And in 2019, Jack Ma stepped down as chairman of e-commerce behemoth Alibaba.
The pressure for a regime change comes amid increasing oversight from Beijing. In recent years, China has launched antitrust probes against tech companies, increased oversight of data security, and restricted consumers' usage of internet and gaming platforms.
The crackdown has dented investor confidence and hurt company earnings. Last month, Alibaba and social-media giant Tencent both reported their slowest revenue growth on record. JD.com also posted its first annual loss in three years. JD.com and other major tech firms are also firing thousands of workers.
"The predominant driver is politics, and now these old guards need to make way for their successors," Naubahar Sharif, professor at the Hong Kong University of Technology and Science, told Insider.