CORRESP 1 filename1.htm CORRESP

BAIDU, INC.

Baidu Campus

No. 10 Shangdi 10th Street

Haidian District, Beijing 100085

People’s Republic of China

 

October 31, 2022

VIA EDGAR

Ms. Kathryn Jacobson

Mr. Robert Littlepage

Division of Corporation Finance

Office of Technology

Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, N.E.

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

  Re:

Baidu, Inc. (the “Company”)

Form 20-F for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2021

Filed on March 28, 2022 (File No. 001-51469)                                                 

Dear Ms. Jacobson and Mr. Littlepage,

This letter sets forth the Company’s responses to the comments contained in the letter dated September 26, 2022 from the staff (the “Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) regarding the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the Commission on March 28, 2022 (the “2021 Form 20-F”) and the Company’s response to the Staff’s comments regarding the 2021 Form 20-F submitted on August 2, 2022. The Staff’s comments are repeated below in bold and are followed by the Company’s responses thereto. All capitalized terms used but not defined in this letter shall have the meaning ascribed to such terms in the 2021 Form 20-F.

Form 20-F for the Year Ended December 31, 2021

Item 3. Key Information

A. Selected Financial Data

Cash Flows through our Organization, page 7

 

1.

We note your response to prior comment 5. Please expand your disclosure of cash flows to and from the VIEs to segregate loan amounts to nominee shareholders to fund the capitalization of the VIEs for which the Company does not intend to seek repayment as of each period reported. As of the end of the most recent balance sheet date, disclose the amounts retained by the nominee shareholders and those with maturity dates during the next twelve months and beyond.


Division of Corporation Finance

Office of Technology

Securities and Exchange Commission

October 31, 2022

Page 2

 

In response to the Staff’s comment, the Company undertakes to revise the disclosure as follows (page references are made to the 2021 Form 20-F to illustrate the approximate location of the disclosure) in its future Form 20-F filings (with deletions shown as strike-through and additions underlined):

Page 7

Cash Flows through Our Organization

 

……

For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021, loans for the amounts of RMB7.1 billion, RMB602 million and RMB409 million (US$64 million), respectively, were provided to the nominee shareholders to fund the capitalization of the variable interest entities for which the Company does not intend to seek repayment, and nil was repaid by the nominee shareholders.

For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021, our PRC consolidated affiliated the variable interest entities received RMB11.7 billion, RMB5.0 billion and RMB6.9 billion (US$1.1 billion), respectively, as capital contributions or loans from the subsidiaries of Baidu, Inc. and the PRC consolidated affiliated variable interest entities repaid principal amount of RMB9.1 billion, RMB1.1 billion and nil, respectively, to the subsidiaries.

……”

The Company further undertakes to revise the selected financial information tables as follows in its future Form 20-F filings in response to the Staff’s comments #1, 2 and 3, with changed or added line items shaded in grey. Corresponding adjustments are also made to certain amounts in the below tables in order to address the Staff’s comments.

Page 9:

Selected Condensed Consolidateding Statements of Comprehensive Income Information

 

     For the Year Ended December 31, 2021  
        
     Baidu, Inc.     Primary
Beneficiaries of
VIEs excluding
Baidu, Inc.
    Other
Subsidiaries
     VIEs and
VIEs’
subsidiaries
    Eliminations     Consolidated
Total
 
                                       
     RMB  
     (In millions)  

Revenue

     —         4       83,424        61,380       (20,315     124,493  

Share of (loss) income of the VIEs and VIEs’ subsidiaries

     (276     (2,067     —          —         2,343       —    

Net income (loss)

     10,226       (6,248     16,330        (220     (12,497     7,591  


Division of Corporation Finance

Office of Technology

Securities and Exchange Commission

October 31, 2022

Page 3

 

     For the Year Ended December 31, 2020  
        
     Baidu, Inc.      Primary
Beneficiaries
of VIEs
excluding
Baidu, Inc.
    Other
Subsidiaries
     VIEs and
VIEs’
subsidiaries
     Eliminations     Consolidated
Total
 
    

 

    

 

   

 

    

 

    

 

   

 

 
     RMB  
     (In millions)  

Revenue

     —          —         69,425        52,666        (15,017     107,074  

Share of income (loss) of the VIEs and VIEs’ subsidiaries

     2,483        (1,045     —          —          (1,438     —    

Net income (loss)

     22,472        (7,055     26,137        2,091        (24,619     19,026  

 

     For the Year Ended December 31, 2019  
        
     Baidu, Inc.     Primary
Beneficiaries
of VIEs
excluding
Baidu, Inc.
    Other
Subsidiaries
     VIEs and
VIEs’
subsidiaries
    Eliminations     Consolidated
Total
 
                                       
     RMB  
     (In millions)  

Revenue

     —         —         72,172        51,988       (16,747     107,413  

Share of (loss) income of the VIEs and VIEs’ subsidiaries

     (3,072     (3,392     —          —         6,464       —    

Net income (loss)

     2,057       (10,322     12,550        (2,950     (3,623     (2,288

Selected Condensed Consolidateding Balance Sheets Information

 

     As of December 31, 2021  
        
     Baidu, Inc.      Primary
Beneficiaries
of VIEs
excluding
Baidu, Inc.
     Other
Subsidiaries
     VIEs and
VIEs’
subsidiaries
     Eliminations     Consolidated
Total
 
                                          
     RMB  
     (In millions)  

Assets

                

Cash and cash equivalents

     11,448        1,673        20,850        2,879        —         36,850  

Short-term investments

     6,499        2        133,756        2,986        —         143,243  

Accounts receivable, net

     —          —          2,491        7,490        —         9,981  

Others

     61        50        15,056        8,074        —         23,241  

Total current assets

     18,008        1,725        172,153        21,429        —         213,315  

Fixed assets, net

     199        —          13,923        8,905        —         23,027  

Intangible assets, net

     —          1        74        1,614        —         1,689  

Licensed copyrights, net

     —          —          4,969        2,289        —         7,258  

Produced content, net

     —          —          525        10,426        —         10,951  

Long-term investments, net

     —          374        43,960        22,998        —         67,332  

Investments in subsidiaries

     251,929        —          —          106        (252,035     —    

Contractual interests in the VIEs and VIEs’ subsidiaries(1)

     2,117        —          24,095        —          (26,212     —    

Operating lease right-of-use assets

     —          —          4,989        7,076        —         12,065  


Division of Corporation Finance

Office of Technology

Securities and Exchange Commission

October 31, 2022

Page 4

 

     As of December 31, 2021  
        
     Baidu, Inc.      Primary
Beneficiaries
of VIEs
excluding
Baidu, Inc.
     Other
Subsidiaries
     VIEs and
VIEs’
subsidiaries
     Eliminations     Consolidated
Total
 
                                          
     RMB  
     (In millions)  

Others

     —          152        33,548        10,697        —         44,397  

Total non-current assets

     254,245        527        126,083        64,111        (278,247     166,719  

Amounts due from the entities within Baidu(2)

     6,116        18,751        3,269        —          (28,136     —    

Total assets

     278,369        21,003        301,505        85,540        (306,383     380,034  

Liabilities

                

Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

     712        71        22,249        18,352        —         41,384  

Customers’ deposits and deferred revenue

     —          —          7,656        6,050        —         13,706  

Operating lease liabilities

     —          —          243        2,619        —         2,862  

Others

     10,450        —          2,515        3,571        —         16,536  

Total current liabilities

     11,162        71        32,663        30,592        —         74,488  

Operating lease liabilities

     —          —          316        5,253        —         5,569  

Others

     55,748        12,655        6,589        1,033        —         76,025  

Total non-current liabilities

     55,748        12,655        6,905        6,286        —         81,594  

Amounts due to the entities within Baidu(2)

     —          —          —          19,744        (19,744     —    

Total liabilities

     66,910        12,726        39,568        56,622        (19,744     156,082  

Redeemable noncontrolling interests

     —          4,912        1,580        656        —         7,148  

Equity

                

Total Baidu shareholders’ equity(3)

     211,459        850        259,577        26,212        (286,639     211,459  

Noncontrolling interests

     —          2,515        780        2,050        —         5,345  

Total equity

     211,459        3,365        260,357        28,262        (286,639     216,804  

Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interests, and equity

     278,369        21,003        301,505        85,540        (306,383     380,034  

 

     As of December 31, 2020  
        
     Baidu, Inc.      Primary
Beneficiaries
of VIEs
excluding
Baidu, Inc.
     Other
Subsidiaries
     VIEs and
VIEs’
subsidiaries
     Eliminations      Consolidated
Total
 
                                           
     RMB  
     (In millions)  

Assets

                 

Cash and cash equivalents

     4,079        6,080        23,275        2,348        —          35,782  

Short-term investments

     —          291        119,181        6,930        —          126,402  

Accounts receivable, net

     —          —          2,517        6,151        —          8,668  

Others

     78        58        3,794        8,560        —          12,490  

Total current assets

     4,157        6,429        148,767        23,989        —          183,342  

Fixed assets, net

     192        —          12,338        4,978        —          17,508  

Intangible assets, net

     —          2        521        1,499        —          2,022  


Division of Corporation Finance

Office of Technology

Securities and Exchange Commission

October 31, 2022

Page 5

 

Licensed copyrights, net

     —          —          5,442        993        —         6,435  

Produced content, net

     —          —          426        6,130        —         6,556  

Long-term investments, net

     —          171        56,970        19,092        —         76,233  

Investments in subsidiaries

     232,396        —          —          1,615        (234,011     —    

Contractual interests in the VIEs and VIEs’ subsidiaries(1)

     5,315        —          22,050        —          (27,365     —    

Operating lease right-of-use assets

     —          —          3,344        6,460        —         9,804  

Others

     —          149        22,942        7,717        —         30,808  

Total non-current assets

     237,903        322        124,033        48,484        (261,376     149,366  

Amounts due from the entities within Baidu(2)

     —          20,090        3,067        —          (23,157     —    

Total assets

     242,060        26,841        275,867        72,473        (284,533     332,708  

Liabilities

                 —      

Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

     649        92        21,612        14,363        —         36,716  

Customers’ deposits and deferred revenue

     —          —          6,635        5,991        —         12,626  

Operating lease liabilities

     —          —          298        2,068        —         2,366  

Others

     6,453        4,752        2,843        2,629        —         16,677  

Total current liabilities

     7,102        4,844        31,388        25,051        —         68,385  

Operating lease liabilities

     —          —          317        4,376        —         4,693  

Others

     48,408        11,942        6,294        1,143        —         67,787  

Total non-current liabilities

     48,408        11,942        6,611        5,519        —         72,480  

Amounts due to the entities within Baidu(2)

     3,854        —          —          12,204        (16,058     —    

Total liabilities

     59,364        16,786        37,999        42,774        (16,058     140,865  

Redeemable noncontrolling interests

     —          1,828        —          1,274        —         3,102  

Equity

                

Total Baidu shareholders’ equity(3)

     182,696        3,836        237,274        27,365        (268,475     182,696  

Noncontrolling interests

     —          4,391        594        1,060        —         6,045  

Total equity

     182,696        8,227        237,868        28,425        (268,475     188,741  

Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interests, and equity

     242,060        26,841        275,867        72,473        (284,533     332,708  

 

Note:

(1)

It represents the elimination of the investment in our subsidiaries and consolidated affiliated entities and their subsidiaries contractual interests in the VIEs and VIEs’ subsidiaries, which includes contractual interests in the VIEs through loans to nominee shareholders or capital contributions and the primary beneficiaries’ share of income (loss) from the VIEs and VIEs’ subsidiaries.

(2)

It represents the elimination of intercompany balances among Baidu, Inc., our subsidiaries and consolidated affiliated entities and their the VIEs and VIEs’ subsidiaries. The short-term loans and long-term loans provided to the VIEs and VIEs’ subsidiaries were RMB7.4 billion (US$1.2 billion) and RMB10.6 billion (US$1.7 billion), respectively, as of December 31, 2021, and RMB7.0 billion and RMB5.2 billion, respectively, as of December 31, 2020.

(3)

The loans provided to the nominee shareholders were RMB19.4 billion (US$3.0 billion) and RMB19.1 billion as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, which will mature from 2023 to 2047. The loans provided to the nominee shareholders were to fund the capitalization of the VIEs for which the Company does not intend to seek repayment. The term of all such loans provided to the nominee shareholders has historically been extended prior to their respective original maturity dates, and we will continue to extend the term of all outstanding loans before they become due.


Division of Corporation Finance

Office of Technology

Securities and Exchange Commission

October 31, 2022

Page 6

 

Selected Condensed Consolidateding Cash Flows Information

……”

Financial Information Related to the Consolidated Affiliated Entities, page 9

 

2.

In connection with your proposed disclosure in response to prior comment 5, please expand the Selected Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets Information to include the Shareholders’ Equity Section which should be annotated so that your capital contributions, long-term loans, and short-term loans (if any) to the VIEs and the nominee shareholders are transparent. Additionally, revise the captions for all tables containing selected financial information to read as “Selected Condensed Consolidating...”

In response to the Staff’s comment, the Company undertakes to revise the disclosure in its future Form 20-F filings to include the Shareholders’ Equity Section in the revised section headed “Selected Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets Information.” Please refer to the selected financial information tables included in the Company’s responses to comment #1 above for the revised disclosure.

 

3.

Regarding your proposed disclosure provided in your response to comment 5, please explain to us why you do not present an intercompany receivable related to the income from the VIEs rather than an investment account. In this regard, it does not appear that the WFOE holds any investments in the VIEs.

In response to the Staff’s comment, the Company undertakes to revise the section headed “Selected Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets Information” in its future Form 20-F filings by separately presenting the contractual interests in the VIEs and VIEs’ subsidiaries from investments in subsidiaries. Further, the Company undertakes to revise the section headed “Selected Condensed Consolidating Statements of Comprehensive Income” in its future Form 20-F filings by separately presenting the respective primary beneficiaries’ share of the income (loss) in the VIEs and VIEs’ subsidiaries as “Share of income (loss) of the VIEs and VIEs’ subsidiaries.” Please refer to the selected financial information tables included in the Company’s responses to comment #1 above for the revised disclosure.

Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements

1. Organization and Basis of Presentation

Equity Pledge Agreement, page F-18

 

4.

We note your response to comment 8. Please make clear if any of the VIEs are currently involved in sectors on the “Negative List” which are restricted and/or prohibited for foreign investment. In this regard, we note that this appears to be the case as implied in the first paragraph of page 3 of your filing.

Additionally, with respect to the opinion of counsel regarding the VIEs “based on the PRC laws and regulations publicly available and currently in force as of March 28, 2022,” please clarify if you are operating within a five-year transition period to comply with all requirements of the Foreign Investment Law or have already effected necessary structural changes, if any.


Division of Corporation Finance

Office of Technology

Securities and Exchange Commission

October 31, 2022

Page 7

 

The Company respectfully advises the Staff that the internet content, value-added telecommunication-based online marketing, audio and video services and mobile application distribution businesses in which the VIEs are currently involved are restricted and/or prohibited for foreign investment according to the “Negative List.”

In response to the Staff’s comment, the Company undertakes to revise the disclosure as follows (page references are made to the 2021 Form 20-F to illustrate the approximate location of the disclosure) in its future Form 20-F filings (with deletions shown as strike-through and additions underlined):

Page 3:

“Baidu, Inc. is not a PRC operating company but a Cayman Islands holding company with operations primarily conducted through (i) our PRC subsidiaries and (ii) contractual arrangements with its consolidated affiliated entities based in China. PRC laws and regulations restrict and impose conditions on foreign investment in Our internet content, value-added telecommunication-based online marketing, audio and video services and mobile application distribution businesses in the PRC have been conducted through the applicable VIEs in order to comply with the PRC laws and regulations, which restrict and impose conditions on foreign direct investment in companies involved in the provision of such businesses.

Page F-19:

In response to the Staff’s further comment, the Company proposes to further revise its disclosure based on the Company’s response to the Staff’s comments submitted on August 2, 2022, on page F-19 of the 2021 Form 20-F, as follows in its future Form 20-F filings:

“On January 1, 2020, the Foreign Investment Law came into effect and became the principal laws and regulations governing foreign investment in the PRC. The Foreign Investment Law does not explicitly classify contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment, but it contains a catch-all provision which includes investments made by foreign investors through means stipulated in laws or administrative regulations or other methods prescribed by the State Council. There are uncertainties regarding the interpretation of the Foreign Investment Law with respect to the contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment. Since the VIEs’ internet content, value-added telecommunication-based online marketing, audio and video services and mobile application distribution businesses in the PRC are included in the negative list or subject to the restrictions on foreign investment, if If any of the VIEs would be deemed as a foreign invested enterprise and any of the Company’s business would be included in any negative list or other form of restrictions on foreign investment, the Company’s current organizational structure could be in violation of existing and/or future PRC laws or regulations and could limit the Company’s ability, through the Primary Beneficiaries, to enforce its rights under these contractual arrangements with the VIEs and the Company’s ability to conduct business through the VIEs could be severely limited.”


Division of Corporation Finance

Office of Technology

Securities and Exchange Commission

October 31, 2022

Page 8

 

With respect to the structural changes required by the Foreign Investment Law, the Company respectfully advises the Staff that in accordance with the Foreign Investment Law, foreign invested enterprises with the supreme authorities being the board of directors should change their supreme authorities to the shareholders’ meeting within a five-year transition period after January 1, 2020. Considering that the WFOEs have been set up with the supreme authorities being the shareholders’ meeting, the corporate structure of such WFOEs established prior to the effectiveness of the Foreign Investment Law complies with the requirements of the Foreign Investment Law and the Company believes it is not necessary to make corporate structural changes on such WFOEs.

*        *        *


If you have any additional questions or comments regarding the 2021 Form 20-F, please contact the undersigned at +86 10 5992 8888 or the Company’s U.S. counsel, Shu Du of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP at +852 3740 4858 or shu.du@skadden.com.

 

Very truly yours,

/s/ Rong Luo

Rong Luo
Chief Financial Officer

 

cc:

Robin Yanhong Li, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Baidu, Inc.

Shu Du, Esq., Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Hua Ying Li, Partner, Ernst & Young Hua Ming LLP