(Associated Press via NewsEdge) China's Internet search giant Baidu.com had no immediate plans to list on the mainland, a spokeswoman said Monday, rejecting media reports that it was preparing to go public in China.
'Baidu would very much welcome our Chinese users to also be our shareholders someday. But we are not currently working on a domestic listing,' said Cynthia He, investor relations manager at Baidu.com.
Media reports over the weekend quoted Baidu.com CFO Shawn Wang as saying that the company was mulling an initial public offering in China, and had been in informal talks with the country's securities regulator.
'Baidu's informal discussions with the China Securities Regulatory Commission took place before our Nasdaq IPO, when we were weighing our options for a market to list on,' said He.
In August 2005, Baidu.com raised $86.6 million in its IPO on the Nasdaq.
Baidu.com continues to lead the Internet search market in China, despite Google's expansion in the world's second-largest Internet market by users, including a planned increase in the number of engineers there.
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