China's search engine giant Baidu Inc. has reported the steepest fall in its profit since going public 11 years ago, The Wall Street Journal reported.     

Baidu, which is listed on Nasdaq, said on Thursday that its second-quarter profits fell by a record 34 percent, with the company's net income standing at 2.4 billion Yuan ($363.2 million) as at June 30. Baidu's revenue rose by 10.2 percent to 18.3 billion Yuan during the same period.

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"Baidu faced a challenging second quarter with heightened regulation in the healthcare sector and on internet advertising impacting our business and operations," Baidu Chairman and Chief Executive Robin Li said during a conference call.

Li forecasted lower revenue for next two to three-quarters due to the implementation of newly announced tough regulations. However, he maintained that this would help to make the online search platform more robust and enhance user experience.     

Baidu's Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Li cited a fall in revenue from one of Baidu's lucrative sectors - medical and health care - as the main reason for the sharp drop in its profits. Baidu's medical revenue took a hit following the death of 21-year-old student Wei Zexi earlier this year. The student blamed the search engine giant for prescribing him ineffectual health treatment.        

Following a public outcry over Wei's, Chinese internet regulators responded by slapping number of restrictions on Baidu. This included reducing the amount of promoted results to 30 percent of the page and adding disclaimers to advertisements.

Baidu's fortunes have been hit by a series of other scandals and over the past few months. The company has a virtual monopoly over the Chinese search engine market as US search engine giant Google pulled from China after refusing to adhere to the country's tough internet regulations.

TagsBaidu, china, Google and Baidu, Baidu Quarterly Results