Baidu reports strong traffic growth

BEIJING - Chinese tech giant Baidu posted strong traffic growth on its platforms in the second quarter (Q2) of the year as the company steps up investment in building a mobile ecosystem.

Daily active users of Baidu App, the company's artificial intelligence-based mobile news feed and searching app, reached 188 million by the end of June, up 27 percent year-on-year, according to its unaudited financial statement released Tuesday.

The company's DuerOS voice assistant continued to experience strong momentum with the installed base surpassing 400 million devices by the end of June, up 4.5-fold year-on-year.

Monthly voice queries via the devices topped 3.6 billion in June, up 7.5-fold over a year ago as Chinese users begin to use smart assistants more frequently.

The company raked in 26.3 billion yuan ($3.84 billion) in revenue in Q2, up 1 percent year-on-year and with online marketing as the major earnings contributor.

As mobile internet penetration in China slows, Baidu is excited about the huge opportunity to offer content and service providers a cross-platform distribution channel beyond mobile, into smart homes and automobiles, according to Robin Li, Baidu co-founder and CEO.