Baidu and Huawei nominated as world's smartest companies

Baidu's driverless car on display at the 2nd World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang province, Dec 14, 2015 [Photo/VCG]

Chinese technology companies Baidu Inc and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd were listed as two of the world's 50 smartest companies on Tuesday by a US tech magazine.

MIT Technology Review announced its annual ranking of the "50 Smartest Companies 2016", which identified 50 enterprises that are believed by the news outlet's editors to be "smart" in the way that best combines innovative technology with effective business models to create new opportunities.

Apart from Baidu and Huawei, Chinese tech giants Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd are also on in the list. Didi Chuxing, a four-year-old ride-hailing app that's beating Uber in the domestic market, has also joined the group among the other world's tech behemoths and ambitious startups.

Engineers watch videos on their smartphones during a test journey from Chongqing in southwestern China to Beijing in April. The car used was an autonomous sedan developed by Chang'an Automobile Group. [Photo/China Daily]

Being one of China's major internet search engines, Baidu is developing autonomous cars, backed by a big research and engineering team in Silicon Valley and the company plans to employ more than 100 autonomous-car researchers and engineers in California by year's end, said the magazine.

Another Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei "is now the world's third-largest smartphone vendor thanks to strong sales in both premium and entry-level devices," said the magazine.

CEO of Consumer Business Group of Chinese tech company Huawei, Richard Yu, addresses the audience to launch the Huawei P9 smartphone during a press conference at Battersea Evolution in London on April 6, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

According to market researcher International Data Corporation (IDC), the number of smartphones Huawei shipped in the first quarter of 2016 reached 27.5 million units.

Last year, three Chinese companies: Xiaomi Corp, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd were nominated on the list, with the smartphone manufacturer ranking second.

According to the website of the magazine, some of this year's stars are large companies, like Amazon and Alphabet that are using digital technologies to redefine industries. Others are wrestling with technological changes: companies like Microsoft, Bosch, Toyota, and Intel. Also on the list are ambitious startups like 23andMe, a pioneer in consumer-accessible DNA testing and 24M, a re-inventor of battery technology.