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Evans, who spent two decades at the investment bank in positions
including vice chairman and head of Asia, has occupied a board
seat at Alibaba since mid-2014, before the company held a
record-setting public listing in New York.
Alibaba, by far the largest e-commerce player in China, said
hiring Evans signaled its intention to ramp up cross-border
commerce in earnest after it spent years focusing on securing
its domestic market position.
Top executives have long touted the idea that connecting
increasingly wealthy Chinese consumers with, say, South American
meat producers or European toy makers would generate billions in
additional revenue for the firm.
Evans, who once headed Goldman's equity underwriting arm, has no
direct experience in e-commerce but is trusted by Alibaba's
management, having known founder Jack Ma and vice chairman
Joseph Tsai for years.
He will continue as a management director and lead Alibaba'
growth strategy outside of China, reporting directly to Chief
Executive Daniel Zhang, the company said. His position is newly
created.
Zhang said in a statement that glamorization is Alibaba Group's
most important strategy for the coming decades.
He added that Evans has been "a close advisor to Alibaba Group
for many years, and we greatly value his deep knowledge of our
business, his experience as a proven business builder and leader
globally, and his more than 20 years of experience in China."
(Reporting by Gerry Shih, editing by Louise Heavens)
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