Chinese transportation giant Didi has seen the head of international operations, COO Tony Qiu Guangyu poached by short-video app Kuaishou. Senior vice president Stephen Zhu Jingshi will take over Qiu’s role, local news outlet Latepost reported on Tuesday.
Qiu joined Didi in 2015 and oversaw the luxury business and globalization, reporting to Zhu. He was also the CEO of 99, the biggest Brazilian ride-hailing company acquired by Didi in 2018. Prior to Didi, he had stints at Bain Capital and Morgan Stanley.
KrASIA was able to confirm Qiu’s departure with sources familiar with the matter, and Qiu hasn’t joined Kuaishou officially. A representative of Kuaishou declined to comment. The short-video platform recently hit a setback in the Indian market where the government banned a batch of Chinese apps.
Didi’s service is available in eight countries including Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. Latin American countries contribute more than 50% of the orders, according to Latepost.
Didi continues to be upbeat about its business overseas, planning to enter countries such as Russia, Argentina, Peru, and New Zealand this year. The firm aims to reach 800 million monthly active users globally by 2022.
This article is part of KrASIA’s “China Brief” section, where KrASIA’s reporters will provide quick daily updates about the tech ecosystem in China.