President of Lazada Group and CEO of Lazada Thailand, Jessica Liu, is departing Alibaba’s Southeast Asia unit. 

The company told Bloomberg News the reason behind her departure is that Liu wants to spend more time with her family. Besides leading Lazada’s Thai operations, Liu also held a senior role at Lazmall, the fast-growing marketplace for international and local brands within the Lazada platform.

“Under her leadership, Lazmall has grown to become one of the largest online virtual malls in Southeast Asia,” Lazada said in a statement. “We want to thank Jessica for this and her many other contributions, and wish her well as she takes some time off to focus on her family.”

Liu held the GM role at Alibaba’s Tmall Fashion and Luxury before joining Lazada last year. She was then appointed as CEO of Lazada Thailand in January, becoming the company’s first female country leader. 

In February, Jessica Liu was reported to leave her role to join the e-commerce division of short-video app Douyin, owned by ByteDance. However, the rumour was immediately denied.