SHANGHAI, China, April 12 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The leading Chinese search engine Baidu ( http://www.baidu.com/ ) and China Telecom Yellow Page ( http://www.yellowpage.com.cn/ ), a subsidiary of China Telecom, jointly announced a strategic partnership today. The purpose of this partnership is to combine Baidu's advanced search technology with China Telecom's ample business listing database to produce a local search product that provides location specific search service demanded by Internet users.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041011/BAIDULOGO )

Baidu has seen an increasing trend in location specific queries from its users, and expects to see a continuation of such trend as well as an increase in the use of Baidu's existing PDA and WAP-based mobile search function once Yellow Page's business listings are successfully incorporated in Baidu's search index. The Baidu-China Telecom partnership is expected to expedite the development of local search as well mobile search in China.

Baidu spokesperson Mr. Sheng Bi says, "Shanghai's tele-information center receives over 300,000 phone calls a day, which evidences the enormous need for local search. This partnership will allow Baidu to integrate China Telecom Yellow Page's national business listings into Baidu's local search results, making local search on Baidu more practical and reliable."

"China Telecom's Yellow Pages are far more comprehensive than any other business directories available in China. China Telecom Yellow Page accounts for approximately 83% of the national Yellow Page market with 1200 different business directories published annually. The cooperation between Baidu and China Telecom will help promote the use of China Telecom Yellow Page and further strengthening the reliability and convenience of Baidu search," says President of China Telecom Yellow Page, Mr. Liu Sunan.

About Baidu

Baidu ( http://www.baidu.com/ ) is the leading Chinese Internet search provider. It aims to provide the best way for people to find information. Baidu generates over 100 million page views per day from its world's largest index of Chinese web pages. Over 70,000 Internet users from 138 countries set Baidu as their home page everyday. In addition to serving individual users, Baidu provides a platform for businesses to reach potential customers, as well as technology solutions for large enterprises and government organizations to search and manage information. In a time of information overload, Baidu's simple and reliable search experience has coined "Baidu it!" the action verb for search in the Chinese language.

For more information, please contact: Cynthia He, Investor Relations Manager, Baidu.com Tel: +86-10-8262-1188 x239 Email: cynthiahe@baidu.com Yali Xia, Marketing Director, China Telecom Yellow Page Tel: +86-21-3608-9999 x8016 Email: howhow00@sina.com

CONTACT: Cynthia He, Investor Relations Manager of Baidu.com,
+86-10-8262-1188 x239, or cynthiahe@baidu.com; or Yali Xia, Marketing Director
of China Telecom Yellow Page, +86-21-3608-9999 x8016, or howhow00@sina.com

Web Site: http://www.baidu.com/