Sina.com, the world's largest Chinese Website, is expected to announce today Wang Yan's resignation as chief executive officer, according to domestic media reports.

The company's board of directors approved Wang's resignation at a meeting on Monday, the Beijing-based Star Daily reported yesterday.

Wang is likely to remain an important member of the Nasdaq-listed company's board after his resignation, the report said, citing inside sources.

SINA would not confirm Wang's resignation when contacted by Shanghai Daily yesterday, citing the company's obligations to the stock exchange and its investors not to disclose sensitive information ahead of time.

The company will announce its first quarter financial results, along with an update of any changes in management, today, said company spokeswoman Yan Hongyan.

Speculation about Wang's departure has circulated for about two years. SINA has gone through a series of management shakeups since its inception in 1996.

In 2001, Wang Zhidong was ousted as CEO, president and director of the company he founded.

His successor, Mao Daolin, stepped down as CEO in 2003 after two years on the post, but kept his seat on the board.

He was replaced by Wang Yan, the then president of the company. Wang was also given a seat on the board at that time.

He stepped down as president eight months ago, while holding on to his other two positions.

In March, pioneering member of SINA Jiang Fengnian gave up his post as the company's co-chairman.

Wang Yan founded SRSnet.com, one of China's first commercial Chinese-language Websites.

He was instrumental in creating the current-day SINA through the merger of SRS and SINANET.com at the end of 1998, according to SINA's corporate Website.

SINA now has 180 million registered users worldwide, with 450 million daily page views and over 42 million active users for a variety of paid services.

SINA was the first Chinese Internet firm to list on Nasdaq, in 2000.

Editor: Yan