Alibaba to face challenges head-on in post-Ma era

"I am CEO of Alibaba until midnight and I will embrace my new life starting tomorrow [Saturday]," he said.

Alibaba can embrace change and innovative moves successfully with a process of de-idolization from the glamour and influences of Ma, said Zhang Zhouping, a senior analyst with China E-Commerce Research Center.

Alibaba is not slow to respond to the changing Internet industry.

The e-business giant has taken large steps in terms of innovation to keep pace with the times.

On Friday, it invested $294 million in China's leading digital map provider AutoNavi Holdings Ltd, NASDAQ listed, and became its biggest shareholder by owning a 28 percent stake.

This was the second major investment in less than two weeks.

On April 29, the company announced the purchase of 18 percent of shares in Weibo Corp, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sina Co, China's Twitter-like social media provider.

In March, Alibaba announced its plan to integrate its payment and micro payment businesses to set up a microfinance service group.

These moves have helped strengthen Alibaba in the mobile Internet and social media sectors. It remains to be seen what impact they will have, according to the insiders.

"In this industry, unimaginative competitors jump out all time. The slow movers will be quickly eliminated," said Alimusi.

He said crisis awareness is a critical challenge for such a massive company like Alibaba.