Baidu Takes Service to Japan

Baidu.com (BIDU Quote) says it plans to take its search-engine technology to Japan.

The company, sometimes called the Google (GOOG Quote) of China, said it believes that its experience with non-English-language search, the high Internet usage in Japan, and similarities between the Chinese and Japanese languages make the market a sensible step.

"We are confident that Japan's search-engine users will appreciate Baidu's powerful Japanese-language search technology that will offer a user-friendly alternative to existing search engines," Baidu's CEO Robin Li said in a statement.

Baidu's shares rose $3.68, or 3.3%, to $114.88.