Baidu to Establish New Independent Company to Provide Online Video

New company to aggregate premium content through advertising supported model

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Jan 06, 2010, 08:30 ET

BEIJING , Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Baidu, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced its plan to establish a new independent company to provide licensed online video to Chinese Internet users.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081103/BAIDULOGO )

The new company will work closely with content providers to provide copyrighted premium video content including movies, TV series, sporting events, animation and other varied content to Internet users through an advertising supported model. Mr. Yu Gong , formerly president and chief operating officer of China Mobile's 12580 business, has been appointed chief executive officer of the new company.

"As China's Internet industry evolves, we have seen increasing demand for high-quality video content on our search platform. By establishing this new company, we will be able to better serve our users and customers with superior content and focused resources," said Xuyang Ren , Baidu's vice president of marketing and business development. "I am very excited to work with Mr. Gong, who has strong experience in the internet industry in China , to grow our new company into a leader in the field through product innovation and a robust network of partnerships with leading content providers in China and globally."

Mr. Yu Gong added, "Online video is a rapidly growing sector in China and I believe Baidu's search platform will provide a solid foundation for the new company to address the increasing demand for premium content. I am very excited to embark on this new venture."

Prior to serving as president and chief operating officer of China Mobile's 12580 business, Mr. Yu Gong was chief operating officer of SOHU.com, Inc. Mr. Gong is a Beijing native and holds a Ph.D. in Automatic Control and Application from Tsinghua University.

About Baidu

Baidu, Inc. is the leading Chinese language Internet search provider. As a technology-based media company, Baidu aims to provide the best way for people to find information. In addition to serving individual Internet search users, Baidu provides an effective platform for businesses to reach potential customers. Baidu's ADSs, each of which represents one Class A ordinary share, are currently trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "BIDU."

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Baidu's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Among other things, quotations from management in this announcement contain forward- looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward- looking statements. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward- looking statement, including but not limited to the following: our growth strategies; our future business development, including development of new products and services; our ability to attract and retain users and customers; competition in the Chinese and Japanese language Internet search markets; competition for online marketing customers; changes in our revenues and certain cost or expense items as a percentage of our revenues; the outcome of ongoing, or any future, litigation or arbitration, including those relating to intellectual property rights; the expected growth of the Chinese language Internet search market and the number of Internet and broadband users in China ; Chinese governmental policies relating to the Internet and Internet search providers and general economic conditions in China , Japan and elsewhere. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in our annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is as of January 6th, 2010 , and Baidu undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

    For investor inquiries please contact:

    In China:
     Mr. Victor Tseng
     Baidu, Inc.
     Tel:   +86-10-5992-7244
     Email: [email protected]

     Ms. Cynthia He
     Brunswick Group LLC
     Tel:   +86-10-6566-9504
     Email: [email protected]

    In the U.S.:
     Ms. Kate Tellier
     Brunswick Group LLC
     Tel:   +1-212-333-3810
     Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Baidu, Inc.