China Looks at Baidu 

Baidu said Chief Executive Robin Li was visited recently by two senior Chinese officials.

Search Firm Joins List of Internet Companies Under Scrutiny

 

BEIJING—Chinese Internet-search company Baidu Inc. said Chief Executive Robin Li met recently with two senior Chinese officials, the latest in a series of high-level official visits with Web companies as the government tries to tighten control of the sector.

Meanwhile, Qunar.com Information Technology Co., a travel-search company of which Baidu owns a majority stake, said it planned to list its shares in the U.S. next year.

Baidu on Thursday said Chinese propaganda chief Li Changchun and Liu Qi, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, visited a Baidu exhibition in Beijing on Sept. 5 to learn more about the company's business and to give "important instructions." Both officials are members of the Communist Party's Politburo, which is made up of the party's top 25 leaders. Baidu's CEO was at the exhibition, the company said.

The company said the propaganda chief encouraged Baidu to "continue growing and become stronger, winning honor for Chinese companies." Baidu has expressed interest in international expansion and offers services in Japanese, Thai and Arabic, in addition to Chinese.

A Baidu spokesman declined to provide further details on the visit.

Central-government officials couldn't be reached for comment.

The visits to Baidu and other companies this year underscore the government's growing anxiety over the explosive growth and spreading influence of the nation's Internet sector. Chinese Web companies are required to follow orders from authorities, including requirements to censor their content. Internet companies must walk a fine line, offering services that draw users without angering the central government.

In some cases, the executives' efforts veer into unusual displays of patriotism. Robin Li and other Chinese Internet executives traveled in June to the Shanghai site of the first meeting of the Chinese Communist Party, where they sang revolutionary songs and made speeches praising China's blend of socialism and free-market elements to help celebrate the 90th anniversary of the party's founding.

Last month, Mr. Liu visited online video company Youku.comSina Corp., which operates one of China's biggest Twitter-like microblogging services. According to state media, he told executives that Internet companies should "step up the application and management of new technology, and absolutely put an end" to "fake and misleading information," a term often to mean information not approved by Chinese authorities. Inc. and Web portal

Tencent Holdings Ltd.—which operates China's most popular instant-messaging service, QQ, as well as a microblogging service and a games portal—said in July that China security chief and Politburo member Zhou Yongkang visited its offices. The company said also that Politburo member Liu Yandong and Tianjin Party Secretary Zhang Gaoli appeared at Tencent's Guangdong and Tianjin offices, respectively. Ms. Liu and Mr. Zhang are potential candidates for promotion to the Politburo Standing Committee, China's top decision-making body, in next year's once-a-decade leadership change.

During his visit, Mr. Zhou said "online virtual society's influence on real society is becoming bigger and bigger" and that "the government must strengthen oversight of it in accordance with the law." The visit included an inspection of an office set up by local Web police within the company, according to an article by state-run Xinhua news agency posted on Tencent's website.

Tencent's site quoted Mr. Zhou as saying that Internet companies "must strengthen industry self-discipline" and play a more proactive role in "upholding harmoniousness and stability."

Tencent spokeswoman Catherine Chan said the company often receives central-government officials at its offices. As for the company's cooperation with Shenzhen authorities, she said, "We have a responsibility to protect the security of virtual items on our platforms and will stay in touch with relevant departments to help resolve such user complaints."

Qunar's stock-market listing would come despite investor skittishness in light of market volatility and accounting worries involving some U.S.-listed Chinese companies. Qunar's ties with Baidu, long listed in the U.S., likely would bolster the offering, however.

A Qunar spokeswoman said details aren't yet available on Qunar's IPO plans. Baidu in June said it would make a $306 million investment in Qunar. It didn't specify the size of its stake but said the move made Baidu the company's majority shareholder. Baidu said Qunar would continue to operate as an independent company while cooperating with Baidu in travel-search services.

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