Baidu and Soho are currently considering a major tie-up that will make real estate selling possible via the Internet. (Photo : Reuters)
Two top executives from China’s real estate giant Soho and search engine firm Baidu suggested through a statement on Sunday that the companies are eyeing to jointly sell homes online.
If pushed through, the partnership will be the first huge tie-up between an Internet and a land developing company.
Baidu president Zhang Yaqin revealed that he has been in talks with Soho chairman Pan Shiyi, discussing the possibility of a venture developing a new platform for selling apartments in the country.
Zhang and Pan were two of the attendees at the Boao Forum for Asia held at China's southern province of Hainan.
Though details of the discussion are yet to be disclosed, the Baidu president said that the partnership is still in a very early stage.
Meanwhile, Pan has showed interest in such team-up, acknowledging that Baidu is the world's number one Chinese-language online search provider.
The Soho chairman remarked: "China's fortune totaled 180 trillion yuan nowadays and half of the sum was contributed by the real estate industry. A cooperation with the booming Internet sector will help the real estate market to create larger value."
"Huge potential lies in the integration between the two industries," Pan added.
Baidu, which was first established in 2000, offers services aimed at locating information, services and product by means of Chinese-language search terms including phonetics, snapshots, images and videos, among others.
On the other hand, Soho is renowned for developing many of Beijing's landmarks. These projects include the spaceship-like Galaxy Soho and an office-apartment complex in the China capital's business district.
