Beijing (PingWest)- TikTok owner ByteDance has hired Xiaomi’s senior executive Shou Zi Chew as chief finance officer, signaling the Beijing based tech giant is coming a step closer toward initial public offering of some of its businesses.

The CFO role is newly created by Bytedance that no one filled this role before. Chew will be based in Singapore, according to his latest social media post.

Chew joined Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi in 2015 as CFO of the company, and it also held various position later including president of Xiaomi’s international business. Before joining Xiaomi, Chew had also worked at Goldman Sachs with analytic role for TMT sector and partner at DST Investment Management, an early investor at ByteDance.

Earlier this year, ByteDance closed a fundraising that valued it at USD180 billion.

ByteDance has been pondering the feasibility of making an independent public listing for Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, local Chinese media reported, citing sources closed to the matter. The company has also been considering a listing for its overseas business, which includes TikTok that is available in regions like Europe or the United States.