Baidu CEO nominated to be academician; protest follows

Baidu CEO Robin Li Yanhong's recent nomination for the country's highest academic title in engineering has triggered heated debate, with some netizens claiming Li was unqualified because of his search engine's insufficient regulation of fraudulent medical advertising.

Li was one of 531 candidates, including 114 entrepreneurs, who might become academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering at the end of the year, according to a statement released by the academy on April 30.

Other nominees include e-commerce giant Alibaba's technology chief Wang Jian, carmaker BYD founder Wang Chuanfu, and Microsoft computer engineer Harry Shum. The candidates will be subject to a strict selection process, and only around 10 to 15 percent of them will be granted the prestigious title.