Search engine giant Baidu Inc is expanding its mapping services beyond China, to tap into the growing demand from Chinese tourists traveling overseas.

搜索引擎巨头百度公司正将其地图服务业务拓至中国本土以外，这样做是为了从日益增长的中国游客出国旅游需求中发掘机遇。

A spokesperson for the company said it had launched the desktop¹ and mobile mapping service in Japan, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore, in the hope of luring² Chinese travelers away from using Google Inc's mapping function.

一位公司的发言人表示，百度已在日本、泰国、韩国和新加坡发布了台式电脑版和手机版地图服务，希望借此吸引中国游客放弃使用谷歌地图服务。

"Those four countries are receiving more Chinese tourists every year, so it makes a lot of sense for us to expand our service there," the spokesperson said.

该发言人说道：“这四个国家逐年接待越来越多的中国游客，因此对我们来说，扩大我们的服务范围是非常合理的”

The expanded Baidu service will allow tourists to plan the most appropriate routes, and more services are expected to be added such as navigation and booking local restaurants.

扩大版本的百度地图可为游客规划出最佳路线，今后还将增加导航、预定当地餐厅等更多服务。

Zhang Xu, an analyst³ from Beijing-based Internet consultancy Analysys International, is confident Baidu will manage to poach Chinese users from Google.

总部位于北京的互联网咨询公司易观国际的分析师张旭对百度会设法从谷歌地图手中抢走中国用户很有信心。

"Most mainland tourists have been using Baidu Map for a while when they are at home. Once the service becomes available in foreign countries, it will become their top choice, as the Chinese-language version will hold great appeal to those who can't speak English," he said.

他说道：“在国内的时候，大部分大陆游客已经使用百度地图有一段时间了。当该服务在国外城市也能使用的时候，这会成为游客们的首选。因为中文版本的软件对那些不会说英语的人很有吸引力。”

Baidu currently holds a 70 percent share of China's mapping service market, with 300 million monthly active users. "But it still has a lot of homework to do to compete with Google in the global market, especially in terms of the accuracy of its maps," Zhang said.

百度公司目前占有中国地图服务市场70%的份额，拥有3亿月度活跃用户。张旭说道：“但是在全球市场与谷歌公司竞争，尤其是在地图的准确性方面，百度还有很长的路要走。”