Baidu Baike
Chinese collaborative wiki-based online encyclopedia
Baidu Baike (; Chinese: 百度百科; pinyin: Bǎidù Bǎikē; lit. 'Baidu Encyclopedia', also known as BaiduWiki internationally) is a semi-regulated Chinese-language collaborative online encyclopedia owned by the Chinese technology company Baidu. Modelled after Wikipedia, it was launched in April 2006. As of 2025, it claims more than 30 million entries and around 8.03 million editors – the largest number of entries of any Chinese-language online encyclopedia. Baidu Baike has been criticised for its censorship, copyright violations, commercialist practices and unsourced or inaccurate information.
History
Baidu Baike was created by Baidu founder Robin Li, and was released to the public around 20 April 2006, following the Chinese government's decision to censor Wikipedia in 2005. After 20 days, it had more than 300,000 registered users and more than 100,000 articles, surpassing the number in Chinese Wikipedia.
During the conference WWW2008 of the World Wide Web Consortium, Baidu's William Chang said, "There is, in fact, no reason for China to use Wikipedia ... It's very natural for China to make its own products." When searching with the search engine Baidu, the link to the corresponding entry in Baidu Baike, if it exists, will be put as the first result or one of the first results. The Chinese government has, through the Great Firewall, blocked access to all editions of Wikipedia since 2019.
“Baidu Baike” enters the record as chinese collaborative wiki-based online encyclopedia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Baidu, Baike and Chinese can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Baidu Baike” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Baidu, Baike and Chinese provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q803722. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2006, 2025, 2005 and 2019.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Baidu Baike”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Baidu Baike primary sources, Baidu Baike archive and Baidu research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Baidu Baike”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Baidu Baike” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.