(Yicai Global) Jan. 17 -- China's on-demand service giant Meituan Dianping is reported to have lost its chief technology officer to Kuaishou Technology, the developer of a popular online video and photo sharing app.

Luo Daofeng, who was also a senior vice president at Meituan Dianping, joined Kuaishou Technology as a part-time consultant on Jan. 14, tech media 36Kr reported today, citing an unidentified employee. His will provide technological guidance to the Beijing-based company, the report added.

Luo stepped down for family reasons, Meituan Dianping said in a statement, adding that Vice President Wang Huiwen has stepped into his shoes.

He joined review website Dianping in 2015 and led its technical engineering and basic data platform after the firm merged with Meituan, official information shows. He also served as head of basic research and development at the new company. 

From a technical perspective, there are many similarities between Beijing-based Meituan Dianping and Kuaishou, namely their large user base, strong technology accumulation in artificial intelligence and Big Data, as well as heavy demand for cloud services. 

Kuaishou has raised billions of dollars in funding, including from tech giant Tencent Holdings. It was reportedly worth about USD20 billion last April after Tencent invested a further USD400 million.