(Yicai Global) July 1 -- Two of Tencent Holdings’ vice presidents have been asked to step down and they will also relinquish other key positions as the Chinese internet giant reshuffles top talent to enable core management to better focus on their business priorities.

Cheng Wu will remain as chief executive officer of Tencent’s e-book platform China Literature while Lai Zhiming will stay on as chairman of its joint venture virtual lender Fusion Bank, the Shenzhen-based firm said in an internal circular yesterday.

It is a considerable paring of the basket of top posts that the pair previously held. Cheng was VP as well as CEO of China Literature, CEO of film distributor and production house Tencent Pictures and also in charge of public relations. And Lai was VP as well as general manager of its mobile payment platform Tenpay, head of its fintech business Tencent Financial Technology and chairman of Hong Kong-based Fusion Bank.

China Literature and Fusion Bank were the two men’s original priorities and the other positions were just nominal, a source close to the company told Yicai Global. The pair both joined the firm in 2009.

Tencent is taking action to control costs and is adjusting some non-core businesses to tackle challenges in the sector, Chairman and CEO Pony Ma said previously. This will give the company a better cost structure in the future and allow it to focus on its main businesses.

Tencent has adjusted its organizational structure many times this year, including slashing headcounts in a number of departments including the cloud and smart industries group, the platform and content group and interactive entertainment.

Editor: Kim Taylor