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Nov.30 (NBD) -- Beijing Baidu Baiying Technology Co., Ltd (Baidu Baiying), finally received the license to sell third-party funds from the regulators, three months after its application.

A picture showed that the license was issued on Monday.

The company, a financial arm of search giant Baidu, was founded in 2016 with a registered capital of 20 million yuan (2.9 million U.S. dollars).

An unnamed source told NBD that the company is expected to start selling funds on Baidu's online financial platform Du Xiaoman Financial from this December.

Prior to the approval, Baidu bas been making arrangements in the funds-selling businesses through tie-ups with fund firms or third-party sellers. In addition, it gained approval from regulators to offer payment services for investors and fund companies in 2014.  

As a matter of fact, Baidu's major rival Alibaba, JD.com and Tencent all have launched fund distribution business. Baidu's foray in this sector will make competition fiercer. 

In January this year, Tengan Information Technology Shenzhen Co., a Tencent unit, got the green light from regulators to sell funds and change its name to Tengan Fund Sales Shenzhen Co. Tencent said it will cash in on its nearly 1 billion active WeChat users.

JD Finance gained the approval in April 2017. So far, it has been distributing around 3,500 funds, according statistics from financial service platform Wind.

In April 2015, Alibaba's Ant Financial won itself the right by acquiring a Hangzhou-based fund distribution company www.fund123.cn. Alibaba has conducted a wide range of cooperation with financial institutions and tried to reduce credit risks by employing cloud computing and big data technologies.

It is not sure that how Baidu will stand out from the competition as a latecomer. But one thing is certain that its capacity in AI R&D and huge traffic will be alluring to public funds.

Sources with a large public fund told NBD that their company is negotiating with Baidu Baiying for cooperation and the two sides are expected to explore new possibilities. They will continue to follow Baidu's moves, the sources added.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn