China's business press carried the following stories on Wednesday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Baidu soars on Google's possible exit—Oriental Morning Post

The share price of Chinese search engine Baidu exceeded Google's on Monday following news that the American search giant is closing its search engine in China.

Baidu shares climbed 4.8 percent, or US$26.60, to US$576.84, its largest gain in a month. Its shares have more than doubled in the past year. Google dropped 2.8 percent to US$563.18 yesterday, losing 4 percent over the last three months.

According to a recent report by Internet consultant firm iUserTracker, Baidu controlled 76 percent of the search market last year while Google's market share dropped from 20.7 percent in 2008 to 18.9 percent in 2009.

Baidu Vice President Shen Haoyu said Google's possible exit hasn't produced positive results on Baidu's performance in the last two quarters.

But Google's dispute with Chinese authorities has had a far-reaching influence on Baidu's development, senior officials at Baidu said.

Arrow Energy to reject PetroChina joint bid—Shanghai Securities Journal

Australian coal-seam gas producer Arrow Energy will reject an A$3.26 billion (US$3 billion) joint bid by PetroChina and Shell, saying the offer is too low.

Opinions diverge on the value of Arrow Energy's international business. Analysts estimate its value to be from US$0.15 per share to US$0.74 per share.

BP said yesterday the transaction is still under discussion, but declined to comment.

The joint bidders offered A$4.45 (US$4.09) per share in the initial bid, a 28-percent premium on an earlier market price of A$3.48 but lower than the highest price of A$4.58 reached in January.

Spring Airlines seeks listing—National Business Daily

Shanghai-based Spring Airlines, China's first budget carrier, is looking to go public this year in hopes of riding a wave on the upcoming World Expo in Shanghai, said the company's chairman, Wang Zhenghua.

Spring Airlines has made 50 million yuan (US$7.32 million) in profits in the first two months of the year. “There is a robust turnaround this year as the economic situation gets better,” Wang said.

Spring Airlines aims to have 100 airplanes in its fleet by 2015, but its budget falls short by over 20 billion yuan (US$2.92 billion), he said.

The airline will launch new domestic routes in March and April.