Zhao, who is one of the founding members of PDD and has served as senior vice president since 2018, joins CEO Chen Lei to steer the company as it grapples with tepid consumer demand as China's post-reopening recovery remains patchy.

"In the future, Jiazhen will concentrate more on supply chain management and China operations, while my focus will be more on globalization efforts," Lei said in a statement.

Zhao was behind PDD's Duo Duo Grocery business and led the operations of some product categories in the Pinduoduo platform, including agriculture.

(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)