24 August 2018

Tech multinational Baidu finally granted fund sales license

Published by Asia Times – 24th Aug 2018

Business license was given to its subsidiary, Beijing Baidu Baiying Technology Co. Ltd., wholly owned by Baidu Penghuan

Baidu has finally won its fund sales license, joining the other three Internet giants, Alibaba, Tencent and Jingdong, to sell investment funds online, The Paper reported.

The securities investment fund sales business license was given to its subsidiary, Beijing Baidu Baiying Technology Co. Ltd.

Baidu Baiying is 100% wholly owned by Baidu Penghuan, which is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Baidu Netcom. Li Yanhong, the chairman and CEO of Baidu, holds a 99.5% stake in Baidu Netcom.

At present, the staggering market size of Internet fund sales has reached several trillion yuan.

So far, Baidu has expanded its business to digital payment, banking, insurance brokerage and micro-loans in the financial field.

Compared with Alibaba, the remaining three Internet giants still lack a license for operating mutual funds.