Board of Directors

  • William Ding

    Executive Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

    Mr. Ding is the founder of NetEase, and has served as a director since its inception in July 1999 and as its chief executive officer since November 2005. Between 1999 to 2005, Mr. Ding served a number of roles within NetEase, including the chief architect, the acting chief executive officer, acting chief operating officer, and co-chief technology officer of NetEase. Mr. Ding currently serves on the board of directors of Youdao, Inc. (NYSE: DAO) since January 2015. Mr. Ding received a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Technology from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.

  • Yong Li

    Executive Director and Vice President of Business Intelligence

    Mr. Li joined NetEase in April 2019 and served as a vice president of Kaola. Prior to joining our company, Mr. Li was a senior technical expert in Tencent Holdings Limited from July 2010 to April 2015. He then served as vice president at Vipshop Holdings Ltd. from April 2015 to June 2018. Mr. Li served as a general manager of operations at Hillhouse Capital in 2018. Mr. Li received a bachelor’s degree in information management in July 1999 and a master’s degree in statistics in January 2002 from Anhui University of Finance and Economics. He also received his doctoral degree in informatics from Nanjing University in September 2004. Mr. Li served as a post-doctoral researcher in computer science at Tsinghua University from September 2004 to September 2006.

  • Yanfeng Wang

    Executive Director

    Ms. Wang is one of the directors for self-produced content in our company since July 2020, and is also responsible for our group’s brand communication, since 2015. Prior to that, she was a senior editor and column writer at NetEase Media between May 2013 to March 2015, and a senior editor at Phoenix New Media Limited from June 2011 to May 2013. Ms. Wang received a bachelor’s degree in Chinese Language and Literature from Beijing Normal University in July 2008. She also received her master’s degree in Literature from Communication University of China in June 2011.

  • Yat Keung Li

    Non-Executive Director

    Mr. Li currently serves as the Vice president of NetEase. Mr. Li first joined NetEase in 2003 and took several senior roles in marketing, business partnership and corporate development within the group. Prior to NetEase, Mr. Li successively served as an account manager and associate account director at DDB Group Hong Kong from August 1999 to October 2003, and as a brand executive at Leo Burnett Hong Kong from January 1998 to July 1999. Mr. Li received his Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Hong Kong in November 1996.

  • Ying Kit Caleb Lo

    Independent Non-Executive Director, Chairperson of Audit Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee and Nomination Committee

    Mr. Lo served at Motorola for more than 10 years since 1992 in China and Singapore and held several positions of finance management including the finance controller. Mr. Lo then joined Hangzhou H3C Technologies Co., Ltd. and has served as a vice president and the chief financial officer, during which he concurrently served as a vice president and the chief financial officer of the China region of HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) from May 2014 to August 2015. Mr. Lo then served as CFO and Co-President of New H3C Group prior to joining JiHu Information Technology (Hubei) Co., Ltd as CFO in September 2021, a JV of GitLab Inc., till July 2023. Mr. Lo has the appropriate professional accounting or related financial management experience for the purpose of Rule 3.10(2) of the Listing Rules. Mr. Lo received his CPA certificate from University of Illinois in February 1995 and he was admitted as a CPA in Hong Kong in October 1995. He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and a fellow member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Lo received his diploma in Business Administration from Hong Kong Shue Yan College in July 1986. He received his Master of Business Administration from Oklahoma City University in May 1991.

  • Xianfeng Gu

    Independent Non-Executive Director, Chairperson of the Nomination Committee and a member of Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee

    Mr. Gu has worked at Stony Brook University since June 2004 and has served as a tenured professor since September 2009, and an Empire Innovation Professor since January 2021. He was previously an assistant professor at University of Florida from August 2003 to May 2004. Mr. Gu received a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Tsinghua University in July 1994. He also received his Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from Harvard University in March 2003.

  • Zhong Xu

    Independent Non-Executive Director, Chairperson of the Remuneration Committee and a member of Audit Committee and Nomination Committee

    Mr. Xu has won various international competitions as a pianist, including the First Prize at the Maria Canals International Piano Competition in 1988, the Third Prize at the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in 1991, the Santander Prize of Honour at the Santander Paloma O’Shea International Piano Competition in 1992, the First Prize and three other awards at the Tokyo International Piano Competition in 1992 and the Fourth Prize at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow in 1994. He was awarded the “Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” in 2010, and the “Officier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” in 2018 by the Ministry of Culture and Communication of France. Mr. Xu has served as the Principal Director of Fondazione Arena di Verona, the General Director of Shanghai Opera House, the Chief Conductor of Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, the dean of the School of Music at Soochow University and one of the International Chairs at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. He previously served as the Artistic Director of Teatro Massimo Bellini and the Music Director of Israel Haifa Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Xu started his study in Piano in November 1986 at Le Conservatoire national superieur de musique et de danse de Paris. He is also recognised as a level 1 conductor by the Assessment Committee of the Qualification for Senior Professional and Technical Occupations in the Art Categories under the Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.