(Yicai Global) Sept. 7 -- Peng Zhibin, a former vice president of real estate developer Country Garden, has joined Xiaomi as VP and chief human resource officer, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun announced on Sina Weibo today.

Peng will be responsible for HR strategy, planning and development of Xiaomi’s HR management system, said Lei, who is also chief executive of the Beijing-based smartphone giant. Peng will report to Lei and President Wang Xiang, he added.

Peng has 17 years’ experience in HR and was in charge of Country Garden’s for nearly a decade. Between 2003 and 2006, he worked at Chinese telecoms titan ZTE, overseeing managers and later led its overseas HR team. He also worked for Cofco Property.

Peng has much experience in high-end talent projects and graduate training programs, two areas that are a focus of Xiaomi’s HR investment. Xiaomi plans to recruit 2,300 new graduates this year, the most since it was founded, and it is also setting up six research and development centers around the world.

Xiaomi has added a number of senior executives since the beginning of this year, including Chang Cheng, who was in charge of Lenovo’s mobile business; Jeffrey Yang, who worked in Samsung and Huawei; and Zeng Xuezhong, former chief executive officer of ZTE’s mobile division.

Alain Lam, managing director of Credit Suisse’s Asia Pacific Investment Banking and Capital Markets Department and head of its technology, media and telecoms business, will join Xiaomi as chief finance officer on Oct. 8, Xiaomi announced on Aug. 26.

Editor: Peter Thomas