Baidu eyes JV to secure banking license

China's biggest online search company may form a partnership to apply for a private banking license.

Chief executive Robin Li of Baidu Inc said at the sideline of the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference that it's possible that the company might not get a license if it applies by itself, hinting that Baidu may form a partnership in order to secure the deal.

He didn't give any more details but admitted that the company has applied for many types of licenses. "I cannot reveal much about it because we are still in the process of applying," he said.

Li said that he hopes that process can be speeded up because the company still has not got the final result on many of its applications.

Last October, Baidu launched an online wealth management product Baifu with a fund company in an effort to tap Internet finance.

According to Li, the Internet industry and finance sector are perfect for each other. "Internet will change many traditional sectors, finance is just one of them," he said.