BEIJING, July 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- China-based Babytree.com, the world's most visited online parenting community site, has just announced the appointment of Larry Chang An Meng, former director of finance at Alibaba Group, as its first-ever Chief Finance Officer in Babytree's six-year history.
"The appointment of Mr. Meng as Babytree's first CFO marks the company's continued healthy development and the fact that we are now bigger and more mature than ever. As such, we are able to bring in new high caliber talents such as Mr. Meng. These new talents, coupled with Babytree's passionate team, will enable us to grow into a more significant presence in China's parenting industry both of online and offline.
"We hope that the joining of Mr. Meng and other new talents will also help accelerate the company's pace of professionalization," Allen Huainan Wang, co- founder and CEO of the company, said in a statement.
Mr. Wang said, "With Mr. Meng's joining, Babytree will embrace a strong team in corporate finance. Of equal importance, we hope that Mr. Meng can also bring to Babytree fitting elements of Alibaba's consumer- and customer-centric culture, which is a key reason for its success to date."
A Finance major and a postgraduate from Central Academy of Finance and Economics in China, Mr. Meng was employed by KPMG in their Beijing Office from 2002 to 2008. After leaving KPMG, he headed south to Hangzhou to join the Alibaba Group, where, during 5 years, he served in its International Department of B2B, as well as later at HiChina Web Solutions (acquired by Alibaba in 2013) in Beijing. While undertaking financial management tasks, he was also extensively involved in several of Alibaba's key businesses and strategic decisions. Between mid 2011 and early 2012, he also played a crucial role in the then planned US IPO of the acquired HiChina Web Solutions division.
"Alibaba is a company that is rich in culture, vision and a sense of commitment to its buyer and seller audience. Senior executives at Alibaba are well-known for playing the dual roles of strategic and vision setter and company culture implementer. My colleagues at Alibaba really made a great impact on me with their strong passion and genuine friendliness in every day work life," Meng said.
As for reason for joining Babytree, Mr. Meng said, "In fact, I have found that Babytree and Alibaba have a lot in common, in terms of the kind of company they are building. Both are companies with strong visions and ideals. Both have a passion for uplifting the lives of their target audiences and both cherish a strong sense of public commitment."
"In my dialogues with the Babytree founders and the core team members, I have sensed the contagious passion they all shared in making parenting life easier for China's young parents. And I said to myself, 'This is the company that can one day become a great enterprise, with integrity and love of what they do, and a mission of enhancing people's lives. This is the company that I can and should participate in.' And as a new father, I think joining Babytree is a great way to turn a new page in my professional development as well."
At Babytree, Meng not only needs to make sure that the company's business continues to grow in a healthy way, but he also shoulders the responsibility of promoting the "happiness index" for Babytree's employees by accelerating the systematic dissemination of corporation culture, corporate values and employee welfare.
"We appreciate Alibaba's culture, and we hope that the arrival of the CFO from Alibaba will bring Alibaba's spark to the parenting industry, making Babytree a blissful place to work for our employees and blissful community for China's young parents," said CEO Wang.
