HUGO BARRA, the most prominent global executive at China’s Xiaomi Inc. and the face of the smartphone maker’s global expansion, has left the firm citing health concerns and a new role.

    In a social media post yesterday, Barra, Xiaomi’s vice president in charge of global operations, said he was leaving the company after three-and-a-half years for a new project based in Silicon Valley.

    Xiaomi was briefly the world’s most valuable startup and had hopes to be China’s equivalent of Apple Inc. But the firm has recently grappled with slowing smartphone sales and fell out of the top five in China for smartphone vendors in 2016, after reaching No. 2 in 2015.

    “The last few years of living in such a singular environment have taken a huge toll on my life and started affecting my health,” Barra said. “Seeing how much I’ve left behind these past few years, it is clear to me that the time has come to return.”

    Barra, who became synonymous with the firm’s international expansion efforts, was based in Beijing, though often traveled to other strategically important markets including India and his home country of Brazil.

    In a letter released to employees earlier this month, Xiaomi chief executive officer Lei Jun said “the worst is over,” referring to the firm’s recent struggles to keep up with an ever increasing number of local competitors. (SD-Agencies)