Baidu signs deal with Bing

Baidu has signed a deal with Microsoft's Bing to offer English-language search to Baidu users, as Baidu looks to expand overseas and Microsoft to increase its China presence. Baidu dominates China's search engine market after Google Inc pulled out, following high-profile fallout with Beijing over censorship last year. The partnership will allow English-language input into Baidu's search box to automatically activate Bing, whose search results will be delivered to Baidu's web pages. The cooperation would allow Baidu to improve its English-language search services as it seeks to push into the international search market, while giving Microsoft's Bing better access to China's more than 450 million Internet users.

"The cooperation between Baidu and Microsoft will further strengthen Baidu's dominance in China's search engine market, and will also make Google's business in China more difficult. The move will also pave the way for Baidu's overseas business expansion, especially in the English-language search market," said Dong Xu, an analyst with Analyst International.

Baidu has also been increasingly moving into other areas of business.