(Yicai Global) Sept. 18 -- China's search engine giant Baidu Inc [NASDAQ:BIDU] has appointed (Herman) Yu Zhengjun as chief financial officer (CFO) to lead development and operation of Baidu's financial organizational structure. Yu Zhengjun will report directly to Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu, the company announced on its official WeChat public account. Yu will replace one of China's most powerful female tech executives, Li (Jennifer) Xinzhe.

"I look forward to working with Herman in his new capacity, as Baidu enters the next stage of growth in the AI era," said Robin Li.

Before joining Baidu, Yu Zhengjun worked for Sina Corp. [NASDAQ:SINA] and its twitter-like microblogging service Weibo Corp. [NASDAQ:WB] for 13 years. He served as Sina's chief financial officer from 2007 to 2014, and had been working as the chief financial officer of Weibo since 2015, having made outstanding contributions to the financial organizational structure of both companies.

Earlier, Yu Zhengjun worked for Adobe Systems [NASDAQ:ADBE] and other companies in Silicon Valley. Yu Zhengjun got a certified public accountant (CPA) certificate in California, the US, and holds a master's degree in accounting from University of Southern California and a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of California.

Baidu announced last April that Li Xinzhe, who has served as CFO for nine years, will be the CEO of Baidu Capital, the private equity arm of Baidu which focuses on AI.