Google will reportedly announce an investment in Chinese peer-to-peer file-sharing service Xunlei.
More than 80 million users have installed Xunlei software and it attracts more than 50 million visitors to its Web site, the report in the state-owned China Daily said.
The announcement is seen as Google’s latest effort to chip away at Baidu.com’s leadership in
China’s burgeoning Internet market.
Baidu.com leads Chinese search with 56.6
percent of the market, versus Google’s 32.8 percent second-place standing in
the sector, according to iResearch.
Google was not immediately available for comment.
Also this week, Google said it will partner with China Mobile, allowing mobile
users to search the Internet. In a statement, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the agreement with China’s top mobile telecom will “build a new mobile world for Chinese users to communicate freely and live comfortably.”
In 2006, Google unveiled a Chinese-language brand name: “Gu Ge,” meaning “Valley Song.” Schmidt also traveled to China to
cut the ribbon on a new Beijing research center.
Google’s most recent moves to gain a stronger foothold in China come a year after the Internet company defended its cooperation with Chinese
censors while also finding its Google News site blocked by the
Chinese firewalls.