Chinese online gaming company The9 (NCTY) says Tony Tse has resigned as chief financial officer due to personal reasons and George Lai will soon take over those duties.

Tse will depart on July 4, 2008, while Lai will start his work the day before on July 3.

Prior to joining The9, Lai worked at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu since 2000. He served in various positions including audit manager and senior auditor at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Hong Kong, New York and Beijing offices.

The9 recently reported that its net revenues for the first quarter of 2008 increased by 4% quarter-over-quarter and by 63% year-over-year to CNY439.4 million as it announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008.

Net revenues attributable to the operations of subscription-based games, which included revenues from game playing time, merchandise and installation package sales, increased by 1% quarter-over-quarter and by 47% year-over-year to CNY392.4 million in the first quarter of 2008. Net income for the first quarter of 2008 was CNY89.7 million, a 4% increase from CNY86.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, and a 36% increase from CNY66.1 million in the first quarter of 2007.