Development Costs

Fourth-quarter development spending at Baidu more than doubled to 46.5 million yuan after the company added workers. Sales and administrative expenses rose 86 percent to 132.2 million yuan as Baidu expanded its direct sales staff.

The Web company has started a service in Japan and plans to open a consumer trading site this year to compete with Alibaba.com Corp.

Yahoo, which rejected a takeover bid from Microsoft Corp. this week, became Alibaba's single biggest shareholder in 2005. Alibaba owns China's biggest trading Web sites for individuals and businesses.

Baidu plans to introduce a service in 2008 that will compete for users with Alibaba's Taobao.com, a Web site where individuals sell goods to one another. Alibaba.com Corp is the parent of Hong Kong-listed Alibaba.com Ltd.

Baidu's Li said the company is "open to all kinds" of share-listing options, though it's "unlikely" the company will sell stock in Hong Kong in 2008.