BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Yahoo has unveiled a Web site dedicated to Internet searches for China, less than a week after archrival Google made its maiden investment in the country's biggest search engine firm, CRIENGLISH.com reported Monday.

    The new site called "Yisou," which translates into "No. 1 search" in English, would differ from its Chinese-language portal in that it would focus solely on Web searches.

    A Yahoo spokesman said the introduction of Yisou will help extend their reach into the rapidly growing search market in China.
U.S.-based Google, which has no physical presence in China, dipped its toe into the market last week by buying a minority stake in Baidu.com Inc -- which calls itself China's top search engine and plans to list in New York.

    China's internet market is expected to grow to 111 million subscribers by the end of this year from 81 million a year ago. That would make the country second only to the U.S. market.

    Yahoo had beefed up its presence in the Chinese market with its acquisition late last year of homegrown search firm 3721 Network Software for $120 million.

    Google is most popular with wealthier, English-literate users in China, while Baidu does well among middle-class users.

    Some company executives said the investment clearly split China's online search market into the Google/Baidu and Yahoo/3721 camps.

   (CRIENGLISH.com)