Senior Retirements at Struggling Chinese Portals 58.com and FangDD

Two Chinese real estate marketplace operating companies have announced the retirements of senior team members.

The Beijing-based classifieds giant 58.com announced that Senior Vice President Jeff Ye Bing and Vice President Chen Huicong (Sophia Chen) would be voluntarily joining the company's 'honorary retirement program'.

Ye Bing served as the COO of the company's real estate marketplace site Anjuke while Chen, who joined 58.com in 2012, came up through the ranks to become VP of the company's administrative service system.

Apart from Anjuke, 58.com operates an eponymous generalists classifieds site and counts Chinese internet giant Tencent as a significant stakeholder.

In mid-October, the company denied rumours that it was set to lay off more than 20% of staff from its real estate division following a slowdown in the Chinese market.

Fellow Chinese real estate portal operator FangDD has announced that Mr. Weiru Chen has resigned from his seat on the company's board for personal reasons.

Mr Chen was a member of the portal's Audit, Compensation and Corporate Governance committees and has been replaced in all of these functions by Mr. Zhen Xie.

Xie is the founder and CEO of Shanghai MaiQin Information Technology Co, a family-tour platform focusing on extracurricular activities and travel experiences for children.

"We believe Mr. Xie’s range of skills and rich knowledge of business operations will add significant value to the Board and enhance the overall governance and management of FangDD,” said Mr. Xi Zeng, the Chairman of the Board and CEO of FangDD

FangDD has been one of the portals hardest hit by changes in the Chinese market since the pandemic and Evergrande crisis. The company saw losses of $183 million in FY21 with the picture not much rosier in the first half of 2022 which saw FangDD's revenue drop 79% year-on-year.