Circle China has been created as an independent company with local investors to capitalize on a population that’s comfortable with payments made over social media. Baidu’s investment is the latest in a series by the search company as it tries to diversify. The company is partnering with China Citic Bank Corp. and starting a financial technology incubator in Hong Kong. Baidu’s investment in Circle gives the company a stronger foot-holding in the payments space that’s dominated by Tencent Wechat and Alipay.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-23/circle-raises-60-million-in-funding-round-backed-by-baidu-idg