(Yicai Global) Dec. 22 -- JD Digital Technology, the financial technology unit of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.Com, has changed its chief executive officer in a move likely intended to smooth the path to its initial public offering as China stiffens supervision of the fintech sector.

Li Yayun, chief compliance officer at JD.Com, will take up the reins from Chen Shengqiang, Beijing-based JD Digital, also known as JD Digits, said in a statement yesterday. Chen will become vice president at JD Digits and chief of staff at JD.Com, China’s second-biggest e-commerce player.

Recent steps toward more regulation of the country’s burgeoning fintech sector may have prompted the change of CEO, especially after rival Ant Group’s mega-IPO was halted early last month. JD Digits filed in September to join Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Star Market, hoping to raise CNY20 billion (USD3.1 billion).

Selecting a director responsible for risk control as the new CEO shows JD Digit's intention to strengthen its compliance management, Zheng Lei, director of Hong Kong International New Economic Research Institute's digital economy research center, told Yicai Global.

The new leadership may adjustments to staff, strategy, and business deemed high-risk, Zheng added.

Li already chaired the board of supervisors at JD Digits and she has been an executive in the parent company's compliance department since December 2007.

When the authorities suspended Ant's IPO, they required the Alipay operator to adjust its business model to rein in risks. The mobile wallet removed its internet deposit products from the platform on Dec. 18. JD Digits quickly followed suit.

Editor: Emmi Laine