Chinese Internet search engine company Baidu Inc. and Japanese communications giant NTT DoCoMo have established a joint venture in Japan.

According to reports in Chinese Internet media, NTT DoCoMo will buy two batches of newly issued shares of the joint venture this year, totaling USD22.5 million. Baidu and NTT DoCoMo will finally own a 80% and a 20% stake in the joint venture, respectively. The main businesses of the joint venture will be providing mobile value-added services and various digital content.

NTT DoCoMo is one of the largest mobile communications companies in the world and it is also one of the earliest providers of 3G commercial services. Its products cover mobile phones, video phones, i-mode services, e-mail services and mobile phone mail services.

This is not the first time for Baidu to explore the Japanese wireless market. Early in September 2009, Baidu launched wireless search services to Japanese users. However, by 2010 Baidu had lost nearly CNY700 million in the Japanese market and the company has not gained any profit from the overseas market.

As one of the most developed countries in the world, Japan has a mature wireless application market. It issued 3G licenses in 2001. Statistics show that Japan already had over 100 million 3G users in 2009; the penetration of 3G covers 96% of population in Japan; and its wireless Internet traffic is over four times that of its wired Internet traffic.