The Beijing-based company known as the "Chinese Google" has had informal talks with China's stock regulator, said Chief Financial Officer Shawn Wang, but added that such a listing was currently facing some legal obstacles.

"We have made some informal communications with officials at the China Securities Regulatory Commission for a possible domestic listing," Wang told a group of reporters on the sidelines of a forum in Shanghai, China's financial hub.

"However, we are still facing many legal obstacles if we want to list domestically as there hasn't been any specific regulations which allow the likes of Baidu to list domestically," he said, adding that legally, Baidu is a wholly foreign capital-invested company.

So far, no foreign firm has been allowed to list on China's stock markets. But regulators are considering allowing overseas firms to issue Chinese Depositary Receipts (CDRs), according to a document obtained by Reuters earlier this year.

"A listing would further Baidu's long-term interest... and we are also continuously interested in acquiring search engine-related companies which would complement the company's core business," said Wang, who did not say how much Baidu aimed to raise from the listing.

Baidu, which has said it plans to launch a blogging service called Baidu Space, said it had launched a beta version of the product in July, but Wang declined to give details on the official launch date.

Global giants Microsoft Corp, Google Inc and Yahoo Inc already offer blogging services in China, in a crowded sector also populated by several homegrown players such as Bokee.com, Blugbus.com and BlogCN.com.

Baidu's spectacular Nasdaq debut last year -- its shares more than quadrupled on their first day of trade, the biggest one-day gain by a foreign company in the United States -- was fed by huge global interest as investors saw the company as well-placed to serve the world's most populous country where Web use is surging.

The stock, which later fell on fears of overvaluation, is still up 24 percent so far this year to close at US$78.07 on Friday.

China is the world's second-biggest Internet market by users, with more than 100 million netizens. Wang estimated that Baidu has as much as a 60 percent share of China's Internet market.

"We hope local Baidu users can be our investors someday to share our profit growth," he said.

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