Chinese company Baidu is in talks with prospective investors for the purpose of raising $2 billion in funding focused on expanding its weight in financial services, Reuters reported yesterday.

The search engine, which operates the online payments service Baidu Wallet (which provides credit and wealth management services on its platform), is looking for investors that will either buy some of its shares of its Baidu Financial Services Group, or to buy new shares in the group.

Baidu expects the round to close in April, and is expecting to raise between $1.5 and $2 billion, according to reports.

The funding would allow Baidu to expand the services currently offered by Baidu FSG, putting its financial offerings at least in sighting distance of those run by Alibaba and Tencent, the giants of Chinese mobile payments.

Read more at Reuters and CNBC.

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