China 'second-generation' internet entrepreneurs take helm

Jack Ma's retirement marks a new era for the country's innovators

20201014 Meituan wang xing

Wang Xing, founder, cief executive officer of China's Meituan Dianping hits the gong during the debut of the company at the Hong Kong Exchanges, Sept. 20, 2018. © Reuters

NAOKI MATSUDA, Nikkei staff writer

SHANGHAI -- Jack Ma, the 56-year-old founder of Chinese internet group Alibaba, officially retired from management in September. The change marks a new era for the country's internet industry, in which companies led by the "second-generation" of entrepreneurs aged around 40, are seeing fast growth.

One of this new wave is Wang Xing, the 41-year-old chief executive of Meituan, the Chinese online platform known for food delivery services, who in July publicly criticized the magnate of China's internet industry.

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