SOHO, Baidu mulls China's 1st estate-Internet tie-up

Real estate giant SOHO China is likely to join hands with search engine Baidu Inc to sell homes online, two top executives from the companies suggested on Sunday.

It will be the first major tie-up between a landdeveloper and an Internet company if the partnershipis realized.

Attending a panel discussion at the Boao Forum for Asia in South China's Hainan province, Zhang Yaqin, president of Baidu, said he and SOHO Chairman Pan Shiyi was discussing the possibility of a partnership to create a new way to selling apartments inChina.

Details of the discussion was unclear but Zhang said it was in a very early stage.

Pan also showed interest in teaming up with Baidu, the world's largest Chinese-language online search provider.

"China's fortune totaled 180 trillion yuan ($29 trillion)?nowadays and half of the sum was contributed by the real estate industry. A cooperation with the booming Internet sector will help the real estate market to create larger value," Pan said.

"Huge potential lies in the integration between the two industries."

SOHO has developed many landmarks in Beijing, including an office-apartment complex in the city's business district and the space-ship like Galaxy SOHO in one of the most ancient areas of the Chinese capital.