Baidu Inc., China's largest search engine, recently announced it would invest jointly to launch a B2C company with a Japanese e-commerce website to tap China's robust online spending.

Baidu and Rakuten Inc., the largest e-commerce website in Japan, will inject $50 million into the joint venture over the next three years. The portal is expected to start operations in the second half of this year, said Baidu.

"An increasing number of businesses and consumers are engaging in e-commerce and we hope to provide users with a diversified and satisfying shopping experience with the launch of the new platform," said Ren Xuyang, Vice President of Baidu