John Liu, head of Google Inc China, is stepping down "to pursue other opportunities", the company said on Tuesday.

Liu has been leading Google's Chinese operations since 2008, succeeding information technology venture capitalist Kai-fu Lee.

Google said Scott Beaumont, who currently runs the company's partnerships business in Europe, will replace Liu in mid-August.

"(Beaumont) will continue our focus on helping Chinese businesses of all sizes grow locally and globally," the company said in an e-mail to China Daily.

Google's market share on the Chinese mainland slipped after the company moved its servers to Hong Kong in March 2010, and as of June, Google was the fifth largest search engine with a little more than 2 percent market share, according to local research company CNZZ.

The nation's most-used online search provider, Baidu Inc, grabbed more than 64 percent of the share and Qihoo 360 Technology Co, ranked second, taking 15 percent.