It’s been a long day for search giant Baidu, which is courting the tech and investment communities on Wednesday and Thursday at its annual developers conference in Beijing.

But even before the curtain rose on the two-day powwow, Baidu announced through a U.S. stock exchange filing that it has appointed a new director to replace former COO and artificial intelligence (AI) specialist Lu Qi. The new director, Jixun Foo, is currently managing partner at GGV Capital, a major global venture capital firm that he joined in 2006.

Foo has been a Baidu investor since 2004, a year before the company went public. He’s a China tech veteran, serving as director at several other companies, including new energy car specialist Xpeng Motors and Tujia, China’s homegrown equivalent of Airbnb. His portfolio at GGV Capital has included car services specialists Grab and Didi Chuxing, as well as online video specialist Youku-Tudou.

Lu Qi, an AI expert and former Microsoft executive, joined Baidu as chief operating officer in January 2017. Since stepping down from the position last May for “personal and family reasons,” he went on to join U.S. accelerator Y Combinator last August.

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