(Bloomberg) -- Kuaishou Technology’s former international business leader Tony Qiu has joined Chinese food delivery titan Meituan, making the switch between internet companies at a time of elevated regulatory and economic challenges for the sector.

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Qiu has taken on a provisional role as assistant to Meituan founder and Chief Executive Officer Wang Xing while deciding which business unit of the company he will run, the former Bain Capital executive said in a text message. It’s a common practice for senior officers in China to occupy assistant roles before being assigned a strategic position, such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Chief Financial Officer Toby Xu, who assisted CEO Daniel Zhang before taking the reins of the e-commerce giant’s investment arm.

Qiu’s hire, first reported by local media outlet Late Post, has fueled speculation about Beijing-based Meituan’s ambitions to expand into international markets. Growth in the domestic market has slowed for all of China’s biggest consumer tech firms while nearby regions like Southeast Asia are getting millions of first-time internet users online and increasing demand for connected services.

“Meituan could potentially leverage Tony’s global expertise to explore opportunities overseas, given that he used to help Didi and Kuaishou with their respective international businesses,” said Vey-Sern Ling, senior analyst with Union Bancaire Privee in Singapore.

A representative from Meituan didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry seeking comment.

Qiu, who joined Kuaishou in August 2020 from Didi Global Inc., was charged with taking China’s No. 2 short-video hub to the global stage. He led a seasoned team with experience at Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Netflix Inc. and ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok in growing Kuaishou’s reach to markets like Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. In June 2021, Kuaishou reported 180 million monthly users outside China, up from 150 million in April, according to the most recent figures the company has disclosed. At Didi, Qiu also helped the Chinese ride-hailing firm build its presence in Brazil through the acquisition of local startup 99.

Qiu quit Kuaishou earlier this year citing personal reasons, Bloomberg News reported in March.

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