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Chinese Internet search leader Baidu (BIDU.O: Quote, Profile , Research) won approval to become an online news portal, government and industry sources said on Tuesday, heating up a rivalry in the world's second-largest Web market.China's State Council Information Office (SCIO), granted Baidu an Internet news content service license last week, a government source said, allowing Baidu.com Inc. -- often referred to as "China's Google" -- to do its own reporting rather than simply show news search results at present.
This will give Baidu a clear edge in terms of content over competitors who lack the permit, industry analysts said.
China's Baidu Gets Online News Portal Licence [today.reuters.co.uk]
This is a major step toward Baidu retaining all of the eyeballs in China. This is probably not something that Google will be able to equal in the near future even if they wanted to. Baidu's challenge will be to build this news section of their portal into a real rival for other Chinese news agencies.
