Top Chinese Search Engines 2025
The Chinese search landscape has shifted. Baidu still leads on mobile — but Bing has overtaken Baidu on desktop, and Haosou holds surprising share across both.
Source: StatCounter — data as of March 2026. Mobile and desktop figures are reported separately as usage patterns differ significantly between devices.
The most significant change since 2020: Baidu's mobile share has dropped from 76%+ to under 64%, Bing has overtaken Baidu on desktop, and Haosou (360 Search) has grown considerably on both platforms.
Mobile Search Engine Market Share — China (2025)
Source: StatCounter, March 2026
| Search Engine | Mobile Share | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Baidu (百度) | 63.77% | Still dominant on mobile — but market share has declined from 76%+ as Haosou and Yandex usage has grown. |
| Yandex | 13.64% | Significant mobile share, likely driven by VPN users and specific device configurations. |
| Haosou / 360 Search (好搜) | 11.62% | The Qihoo 360-backed search engine continues to hold substantial mobile share. |
| Bing | 7.51% | Growing mobile share — Bing is not blocked in China and benefits from Microsoft device integration. |
| Sogou (搜狗) | 1.67% | Declined significantly after Tencent acquired Sogou in 2021 and began integrating it into WeChat search. |
| 1.39% | Accessible only via VPN in mainland China — minimal organic reach for marketing purposes. |
Desktop Search Engine Market Share — China (2025)
Source: StatCounter, March 2026
| Search Engine | Desktop Share | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bing | 35.02% | Now the leading desktop search engine in China — not blocked, benefits from Windows and Edge integration. |
| Baidu (百度) | 34.86% | Near-equal desktop share with Bing — still critical for China SEO but desktop dominance has eroded. |
| Haosou / 360 Search (好搜) | 20.48% | Strong desktop presence through the Qihoo 360 browser and security software ecosystem. |
| Yandex | 5.34% | Measurable desktop share — likely driven by specific browser configurations and VPN users. |
| 2.71% | Accessible via VPN only — not a practical marketing channel for reaching mainland consumers. | |
| Sogou (搜狗) | 1.56% | Minimal desktop presence following the Tencent acquisition and consolidation. |
What Changed Since 2020
Baidu lost ground
Mobile share fell from 76.33% (2020) to 63.77% (2026). Desktop share is now nearly equal with Bing at ~35%. Baidu remains the primary target for China SEO but is no longer as overwhelmingly dominant.
Bing surpassed Baidu on desktop
Bing now leads desktop search in China with 35.02% vs Baidu's 34.86%. Not being blocked by the Great Firewall, and its deep integration with Windows and Edge, has grown Bing's desktop footprint considerably.
Haosou (360 Search) is bigger than reported
With 11.62% mobile and 20.48% desktop share, Haosou is far from irrelevant. Brands focused purely on Baidu are missing a meaningful portion of Chinese search traffic.
Sogou declined sharply
Sogou's share collapsed after the Tencent acquisition in 2021. WeChat search is now powered differently, and Sogou as a standalone search engine has become marginal (1–2% on both platforms).
What This Means for China SEO in 2025
- Baidu SEO remains the top priority — it still leads on mobile where most Chinese searches happen
- Optimising for Baidu generally also improves rankings on Haosou and Sogou — the algorithms are similar
- Bing's desktop growth is worth monitoring — Simplified Chinese content that ranks on Baidu tends to rank on Bing China too
- Sogou no longer warrants dedicated optimisation effort — WeChat content strategy is more effective for Tencent ecosystem reach
- Simplified Chinese content is still non-negotiable — no Chinese search engine indexes English well
- AI search (generative answers) is beginning to appear in Baidu results — optimising for featured snippet-style content is increasingly important
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