China's top web search engine Baidu announced at a press conference Tuesday that it will invest an undisclosed amount in U.S.-based taxi app service Uber.

Uber is already providing its transportation services in nine Chinese cities, and the new partnership is a huge milestone for the growing taxi company.

Like Us on Facebook

As part of the deal, Baidu will implement Uber's on-demand taxi service on its Mobile Baidu and Baidu Maps apps. That means Uber will have the opportunity to open its Chinese market to over half a billion people, as Mobile Baidu has over 500 million active users and 240 million active users for the Baidu Maps app.

There will be no need for Uber to integrate its own Chinese-language platform as anyone who wants to use Uber's taxi services would simply book a car and talk to the driver through Baidu's apps.

"This collaboration marks a milestone for Uber. We're currently in 250 cities around the world, and the Asia-Pacific region has been a key area of growth for us," Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said Tuesday. "Our partnership with Baidu - a premier global brand - reflects our commitment to the region and the growing community of Uber riders and driver-partners here."

Although the financial details of Baidu's investment in Uber has yet to be announced, earlier reports say Baidu could be pledging upward of $600 million. 

Some are questioning whether the partnership is going to be worth the risk considering Uber's recent troubles in India where one of its driver's, who had a history of sexual assault, reportedly raped a passenger. The incident caused many Indian cities to ban the taxi service altogether, and has also spurred the other parts of the world to ban the service, including Thailand and Spain.

Despite the bans, Uber was recently valued at more than $40 billion and counting, and it raised $1.2 billion in funding last month alone. 

TagsUber, taxi app, Transportation service, chinese partnerships