The mainland's online retail market is heating up with the two internet powerhouses bolstering their positions amid intensifying rivalry.
Taobao, the mainland's largest online auction site, has received a 5 billion yuan (HK$5.7 billion) injection from its parent, Alibaba Group.
At the same time, Baidu, the country's largest search engine, is proceeding with its online auction and online payment offer.
'We welcome the competition,' said Joseph Tsai, the chief financial officer of Alibaba, which set up Taobao in 2003.
'Baidu can only be successful [in customer-to-customer or C2C initiatives] if it provides customers with the best shopping experience that includes safe payments, good delivery service, trustworthy sellers, quality products, comprehensive selection, competitive prices and consumer protection.'
That is what Taobao is going to do with the 5 billion yuan investment - improve its overall infrastructure and the 'ecosystem' of its e-commerce platform, which it believes will push its penetration of the online shoppers market from about 33 per cent to close to 90 per cent, the level in more mature e-commerce economies such as the United States, South Korea and Japan.
