Chinese e-commerce company JD.com announced on Thursday a significant shift in its leadership, with its Chief Executive Officer, Xu Lei, stepping down. Sandy Xu Ran, currently the company's Chief Financial Officer, is set to take over the role.

On a call with analysts after the company reported first-quarter earnings, Xu Lei said that he had resigned to spend more time with his family. He will immediately begin the process of handing over CEO responsibilities to Sandy Xu Ran.

Xu Lei succeeded Richard Liu, founder of JD.com, as the CEO in 2022. After retirement, he will serve as the first chairman of JD.com's advisory committee.

Before joining JD in 2018, Sandy Xu was an audit partner and spent nearly 20 years with the well-known consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in China and the US.

The leadership transition at JD.com arrives on the heels of the company's revelation in March regarding its strategic spinoff plan. The company's decision to separate its property and industrial units and subsequently list them on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange signals a crucial phase in the company's business evolution.

The company said first-quarter revenue rose 1.4% from a year earlier to 243 billion yuan ($35 billion), beating analysts' average estimate of 239.42 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv data.

Net profit was 6.3 billion yuan, compared with a loss of 3 billion yuan in the same period last year..