(Yicai Global) Oct.11 -- Zhang Yaqin, president of Chinese internet giant Baidu Inc. [NASDAQ:BIDU], has been elected to the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE), the only foreign fellow elected this year, online media outlet Pintu reported yesterday.

Zhang, former global senior vice president of Microsoft Corp. [NASDAQ: MSFT] and chairman of Microsoft Asia-Pacific's R&D Group, joined Baidu as president in 2014. He is a world-class scientist in the field of communications and software, having obtained 60 US patents. Dozens of his technical innovations have become international standards and he has published many papers and professional articles internationally.

ATSE is the highest honorary institution in the field of technology and engineering in Australia. This year, 26 new academicians were elected and Zhang is the fourth Chinese academician to obtain the honor to date.

Zhang will attend the ATSE academic conference in Sydney on Nov. 24.