Chinese Internet company Baidu announced on Wednesday that it has raised about 1 billion yuan ($155 million) for its new video business subsidiary.

The fundraising was spearheaded by Shenzhen-listed television production company Shanghai New Culture Media Group (SAIF).

Baidu said that its online video division will be operating independently from its parent company to concentrate on professionally generated content (PGC). Its new unit plans to unveil a PGC investment plan with an initial budget of around half a billion yuan to support content producers.

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Its new subsidiary will work hand in hand with online video streaming platform iQiyi, which Robin Li, Baidu's chief executive, has received a buyout offer last February as its buyers aim to bring the famous streaming company public.  

Aside from iQiyi, the subsidiary will also compose of two other units including e-commerce website operator Nuomi and Baidu's video portal. Together, they will become the pillars of Baidu's culture, content, and entertainment business.

Meanwhile, Baidu also officially announced last Tuesday its plan to further expand its mapping service globally. The Chinese web service firm aims to provide mapping service to more than 150 countries and regions by the end of this year.

"The goal is to have 50 percent of Baidu's map users from overseas by 2020," Li Dongmin, Baidu Map's general manager, said.

Baidu currently accounts around 75 percent share of China's mapping service market. It boasts of 500 million active users, although Google Inc. still holds the top spot for the global mapping service market.

TagsBaidu, iQiyi, Robin Li, SAIF Partners, weibo, Nuomi, video portal, streaming