SCMP chief executive Robin Hu is 'handing over the baton' after just four-and-a-half years at the head of the English-language daily.

He will be replaced on January 3 by Gary Liu (33), who is leaving a similar role at New York-based online content aggregator Digg.

The company - which also publishes Chinese editions of magazines including Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar, Esquire and Elle and their websites through a joint venture with Hearst.

Hu will "continue to lend credence" as a member of the SCMP board. The company now belongs to Alibaba, of which Jack Ma is executive chairman.

SCMP says Liu's appointment "marks an important cornerstone for SCMP as his digital expertise and vision will lead SCMP to reach new heights in the global media marketplace.

"Under his direction, SCMP will leverage its acclaimed editorial strength to further expand the company's news division, as well as its advertising, magazines, education and recruitment, events and conferences and contract printing businesses."

He has "helped shape the narrative of how media touches people's lives" in previous roles with US companies including Digg, Spotify, Google and AOL.

Prior to joining Digg, he was head of labs at Spotify (November 2013-February 2015), and led Spotify's advertising operations as global director of ad product strategy from November 2011.

SCMP chairman of directors Joe Tsai says the board is "incredibly excited" to welcome him as chief executive: "Our readers expect SCMP to maintain its editorial excellence while staying relevant in the face of technology disruption," he says.

"As an influencer and innovator in digital media and someone with roots in Greater China, Gary is the perfect fit to take SCMP's vision - coverage of Greater China from an Asian perspective for a global audience - to the next level and show our readers the future of news in the age of mobile and social media."

He says Hu transformed SCMP from a legacy newspaper to a respected digital media company, "always staying true to its core values of quality, integrity and trust.

"I want to thank Robin for his five years of stewardship and look forward to his continued counsel as a board member of SCMP."

Pictured: Gary Liu