(Yicai Global) Sept. 12 -- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding held its 20th anniversary celebrations on Sept. 10, the same day Chief Executive Daniel Zhang took the reins as Executive Chairman Jack Ma retired from his primary role at the company.

While tens of thousands of people attended the event, some of the most important guests are not quite as familiar to the public as the likes of Ma and Zhang. Pictured below are Ma and some of the VIPs you may not recognize.

Jack Ma celebrates his retirement by dressing up and singing Blooming Life by Chinese rocker Wang Feng.

A Ke, the woman who named Alibaba's renowned Taobao and Alipay programs.

Jiao Zhenzhong was Alipay's first ever customer. He received a lifetime diamond membership to the service at the event.

Alibaba merchant Huang Xianping, from China's commodity capital Yiwu, began her business with a booth just one square meter in area. She now brings in revenue of more than CNY100 million (USD14 million) a year.

Jin Duo, whose company Grandblue Environment partnered Alibaba Cloud to develop artificial intelligence-based waste incineration technologies.

Chen Qiuju, the winner of Jack Ma's first Rural Teacher Award in 2015.