Robin Li:From Silicon Valley to Zhongguancun

“If you have questions about interna- tional issues， ask Google； if you have questions about domestic issues， ask Baidu，” has become an oft-quoted adage in China – one that evidences Baidu’s dominance of the country’s search field. It comes as no surprise that Robin Li， founder of Baidu， is considered among the most representative internet elites to find success in Zhongguancun Science Park.

Born in 1963， Robin Li graduated from Peking University and received a master’s degree in computer science from the State University of New York at Buffalo. From 1991 to 1999， while Li lived overseas， China’s internet industry was born. While China’s other internet pioneers were launching companies in Zhongguancun， Li served as a chief architect of Infoseek， an early Silicon Valley search engine company. When Li was hired， shares of the company were US$5， but by the end of 1998， they had ballooned to over US$100. Because Li had substantial stock in the company， he reaped considerable rewards. Despite the decent job and handsome salary， it still fell short of the life Li wanted.

When he first arrived in Silicon Valley， Li simply wanted to learn some techniques. But working in the cradle of global technology， Li personally experienced the emergence of the IT industry， especially how search engines changed American society， so he realized that if he wanted to influence more people and even the world， he had to transform his knowledge into products rather than simply mastering techniques. At the same time， Li witnessed many people launch their own companies， which greatly encouraged him. Li believed that the IT industry would bring great changes to China one day， so he took his search engine knowledge back home and started his own company.

Li chose to start his company in Zhongguancun. In 2000， he rented two suites in a hotel at Zhongguancun， nearby many universities with rich reserves of professionals. In Baidu’s early days， Li kept an office in Silicon Valley because he anticipated that some technology would still need to be developed in the U.S. “But in less than a year， I decided it was unnecessary，” he recalls.“Zhongguancun’s professionals and engineers could do exactly what we wanted.”

On January 3， 2000， the first Baidu Company meeting was held. At the time， including Li， the company’s staff totaled only seven. Today， the number is 20，000. According to external statistics， Baidu facilitates over 80 percent of China’s search traffic. And Baidu makes China one of only four countries with core search engine techniques， along with the U.S.， South Korea and Russia. On August 5， 2005， Baidu went public on NASDAQ. Now， its market value ranks second among China’s internet companies， trailing only Tencent.

Baidu has long since moved out of hotel rooms and into its own building. But Baidu never left Zhongguangcun. In Li’s words， he has confidence in the area. “I consider Zhongguancun closest to the market， to professionals and to China’s most advanced technology.”