Baidu, MIIT Partner on SME Assistance Program
Tencent Tech, 11/28/11
Chinese Internet giant Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), along with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's (MIIT) Department of Medium & Small Enterprises and Department of Informatization Promotion, has announced its new RMB 3 bln "Xiang" ("Soar") SME Assistance Project. The project is designed to support the development of 2 mln SMEs over the course of China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).
The project has four goals, according to Baidu VP of marketing and public relations Zhu Guang: train at least 100,000 search marketing professionals within participating SMEs; build a search marketing service platform; provide free promotion for SMEs in remote and underdeveloped areas; and deliver research reports on SMEs' operating conditions to relevant government agencies.
The Xiang project will first be introduced in Beijing, Shanxi, Henan, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, and expanded throughout the five-year period to 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across China.
Keywords: search advertising government initiative Zhu Guang Internet Baidu MIIT BIDU 12th Five-Year Plan online search