(FILE)

Zhang Yaqin, a former top executive for Microsoft Corp. in China, was appointed president of Beijing-based Baidu Inc., the world's largest Chinese-language Internet search provider, on September 10. Zhang was born in 1966 in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province. He was selected to study electrical engineering at age 12 at the prestigious China University of Science and Technology as part of a special program for gifted kids. At age 18, he began attending George Washington University, earning a Ph.D five years later. In 1997, he was honored as a Fellow with the U.S. Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, becoming the youngest scientist to earn the title in the institute's history. Zhang also possesses over 60 U.S. patents.

The 48-year-old Microsoft veteran had been a corporate vice president and chairman of the company's Asia-Pacific Research and Development Group for more than a decade, controlling the company's largest research and technology incubator outside the United States.

Baidu Board Chairman and CEO Robin Li Yanhong said that he hopes Zhang will help Baidu edge into emerging fields with his rich technology expertise and service experience.