Hugo Barra, Xiaomi's global vice president, announced on Monday that he was leaving the Chinese smartphone manufacturer. He helped the company to expand globally during his three and a half years in the post. /CFP Photo

Before joining Xiaomi in September 2013, Barra was the product spokesman for Google's Android division. The picture shows Barra introducing Nexus 7 at Google I/O Developer Conference in San Francisco, US on June 27, 2012. /CFP Photo

Barra also brought Xiaomi to his homeland Brazil by setting up factories in the country. During a news conference in Sao Paulo on June 30, 2015, Barra was pictured happily with the Mi Rabbit. /CFP Photo

One of Xiaomi’s major global achievements was the release of its Mi4i model in India on April 23, 2015. Barra used a picture of himself to demonstrate the phone's photo beautify feature. /CFP Photo

"Xiaomi Global is the first baby I helped bring into the world," Barra said in his goodbye letter on Facebook. After leaving Xiaomi, he will return to Silicon Valley. No more details on his future job have yet been announced. /CFP Photo