Alibaba Group has appointed former Goldman Sachs executive Michael Evans to take the reins as president of the group.

Since September 2014, Evans has been serving as an independent director of the company. Now he will focus on the company's international growth strategies. Alibaba has a strong presence in China, but the company's top priority is expanding its presence in international markets.

Daniel Zhang, Alibaba's CEO, says that globalization will be the key goal of the company in the near future. The company aims to help nearly 10 million businesses around the world and serve over 2 billion customers.

"We have been laying the foundation for many years and now we need a global team in place with best-in-class talent to bring our vision to fruition. To that end, I can think of no one better than Michael to help Alibaba become a truly global company," said Zhang.

Initially, Evans will develop partnerships with prominent brands, product owners and retailers in Asia, the Americas and Europe. He will work closely with executives in China and ensure that the company provides high quality customer experience to consumers and merchants in China and internationally.

Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba Group, says that the company is delighted to have Evans as part of its management team. He praised Evans for building respect and trust in the industry and is confident that he will take Alibaba to a new level.

Evans has spent about three decades in the area of global finance. He has been a Goldman Sachs partner for the past two decades. During his time at Goldman Sachs, Evans headed the Global Growth Markets and also served as the Vice Chairman and was also the Asian Chairman.

Evans is also a member of the Board of Directors of Barrick Gold Corporation, Castleton Commodities International LLC and some other non-profit organizations.

The Olympian also a gold medal to his credit and won the same for Canada in the Summer Olympics of 1984, which took place in Los Angeles.

Alibaba Group is the biggest e-commerce company in China. In September 2014, Alibaba released its IPO at the New York Stock Exchange and raised $21.8 billion that later increased to $25 billion making it the biggest IPO in the world.