BEIJING, Sept. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Baidu, Inc. (“Baidu” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: BIDU; HKEX: 9888 (HKD Counter) and 89888 (RMB Counter)), a leading AI company with strong Internet foundation, today announced that the Company’s Class A ordinary shares traded on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Hong Kong Stock Exchange”) will be included in the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect program, effective September 7, 2026.

The inclusion is pursuant to the Notice of the Adjustment of the Eligible Stocks in Hong Kong Stock Connect under the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect issued by the Shanghai Stock Exchange on September 4, 2026.

Following the inclusion, eligible investors in the Chinese Mainland will have direct access to the trading of Baidu’s Class A ordinary shares through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect. The inclusion marks an important step toward expanding the Company’s reach among Chinese Mainland investors and is expected to further diversify its investor base and enhance the liquidity of its shares.

Baidu appreciates the continued support of its shareholders and investors and remains committed to driving sustainable growth and creating long-term value for shareholders.

About the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect

The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect established a two-way trading link between the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The stock connect allows qualified Chinese Mainland investors to access eligible Hong Kong shares (Southbound) as well as Hong Kong and overseas investors to trade eligible A-shares (Northbound), subject to a certain amount of daily quota.

About Baidu

Founded in 2000, Baidu’s mission is to make the complicated world simpler through technology. Baidu is a leading AI company with strong Internet foundation, trading on Nasdaq under “BIDU” and HKEX under “9888”. One Baidu ADS represents eight Class A ordinary shares.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “confident” and similar statements. Among other things, Baidu’s and other parties’ strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. Baidu may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in announcements made on the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including but not limited to statements about Baidu’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: Baidu’s growth strategies; its future business development, including development of new products and services; its ability to attract and retain users and customers; competition in the Chinese Internet search and newsfeed market; competition for online marketing customers; changes in the Company’s revenues and certain cost or expense items as a percentage of its revenues; the outcome of ongoing, or any future, litigation or arbitration, including those relating to intellectual property rights; the expected growth of the Chinese-language Internet search and newsfeed market and the number of Internet and broadband users in China; Chinese governmental policies relating to the Internet and Internet search providers, and general economic conditions in China and elsewhere. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and announcements on the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Baidu does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of the press release, and Baidu undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

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SOURCE Baidu, Inc.

ROME and XIAMEN, China, Sept. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Curated by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT), the Official Italian Pavilion is being unveiled at CIFIT in Xiamen. Italy is exhibiting at this edition of the main Investment Fair in China under the theme “Italy, a land of opportunities”.

As the world’s eighth-largest economy and the EU’s second-largest manufacturing powerhouse, Italy has solid policy support for FDI attraction, together with a strong industrial base.

This promotion event, aimed not only at Chinese investors, focuses on showcasing Italy’s strategic advantages as a key investment destination in Europe, explaining the Italian government’s one-stop, full-cycle support services for foreign companies, and giving a comprehensive overview of Italy’s investment policies, laws and regulations, incentives, business environment and top investment opportunities.

The exhibition provides an opportunity to highlight Italy’s business policies and free economic zone incentives in areas like automotive, aerospace, green supply chains, circular economy and life science. A comprehensive list of investment opportunities in the Italian real estate sector is available to all interested parties.

High level officials from the STCAIE and UMASI of the Italian Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, the governmental program Invest in Italy, including ITA’s FDI Attraction Desks in Beijing and Hong Kong, and senior specialists from Invitalia (the Italian Agency for FDI attraction) will provide one‑stop investment advisory services for enterprises throughout the Fair.

Multiple thematic seminars will be hosted onsite, including “Policies and Opportunities for Foreign Direct Investment in Italy”, scheduled for the afternoon of September 8, with presentations and Q&A sessions for enterprises to learn about Italy’s FDI support system.

Chinese and international companies interested in investing in Italy can collect extensive information on investment procedures, project proposals, incentives and policy benefits.

According to representatives from the Italian Trade Agency, CIFIT offers valuable opportunities for bilateral industrial collaboration. Italy values its economic and trade ties with China. It welcomes Chinese investment in Italy and supports Italian firms in expanding in China. Both sides will leverage industrial complementarities to deepen two‑way investment, technical synergy and industrial‑chain cooperation for win‑win outcomes.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/italy-is-participating-to-the-26th-china-international-fair-for-investment-and-trade-cifit-which-opens-in-xiamen-from-8-11-sept-302870001.html

SOURCE Italian Trade Agency

New software category gives authors a unified system to plan, execute and manage book marketing

CHARLESTON, S.C., Sept. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Storiad today introduced the Author Marketing OS, a new category of software designed to give authors a single system for planning, executing and managing the marketing of their books.

Authors have never had more tools available to market their books. They have social media platforms, email services, advertising platforms, AI tools, websites, databases and countless other resources. Yet those tools remain largely disconnected, leaving authors to figure out how to organize the entire job of marketing a book themselves.

Storiad’s premise is simple: authors don’t need more marketing tools. They need a system for using them.

“Authors are expected to market their books like businesses, but they’ve never really had that kind of software businesses use to manage their marketing,” said Ramzi S. Hajj, founder of Storiad. “We’ve had writing software. We’ve had publishing software. We’ve had thousands of individual marketing tools. What we’ve been missing is an operating system for the whole job of marketing a book.”

A New Category for an Old Problem

Marketing a book involves far more than creating a few social media posts or sending emails to a limited list.

Authors need to identify their target readers, establish marketing goals, develop a strategy, create promotional materials, find relevant media and industry contacts, conduct outreach, follow up, maintain visibility and measure what is working.

Those activities have traditionally been handled across multiple tools, documents and services.

Storiad brings them together in a single platform designed specifically around the author’s book marketing workflow.

The company defines an Author Marketing OS as “a unified system that organizes the major functions of book marketing, including strategy, planning, execution and optimization.” Rather than replacing every marketing tool an author may use, the Storiad OS provides the strategic and operational structure that connects those activities.

Storiad is introducing the Author Marketing OS as a new software category built specifically around the job of marketing a book.

From Strategy to Execution

At the center of Storiad’s approach is Book Promotion nMotion™, a proprietary system that helps authors turn a book marketing strategy into an actionable campaign.

Book Promotion nMotion™ organizes promotion around eight core areas:

Promotional Asset CreationMarket ResearchSocial Media ManagementEmailing & Follow-upNetworkingMarketingPublicityBlogging & Newsletter

For each area, authors can develop strategies, planning documents and step-by-step checklists designed to move their campaigns from ideas to action.

“There’s a really big difference between giving an author a marketing plan and giving an author a system they can actually use to run the campaign,” said Hajj. “Our goal is to make book marketing something an author can learn, organize, execute and improve upon over time.”

Built Around the Author’s Book Sales Goal

Storiad begins with a simple question for the author:

How many books do you want to sell?

Its Book Sales Calculator helps authors establish a specific sales target and understand the marketing activities required to pursue it. From there, the platform provides tools and workflows for building and managing a campaign around that book sales goal.

The platform includes CRM-style contact management, a database of more than 52,000 verified book promotion contacts, marketing planning tools such as a Target Reader Profile, email outreach, social media tools, an author website builder, a press room, publicity resources, campaign management and other book marketing capabilities.

Storiad is being used by thousands of authors, giving the company real-time experience developing software around the practical challenges authors face when promoting their books.

AI as Part of the Marketing System

The Author Marketing OS also incorporates StoriA, Storiad’s AI Author Assistant.

StoriA is designed to help authors work through the marketing process, from developing strategies and plans to creating marketing materials and determining what to do next.

“AI is very good at creating things,” said Hajj. “But creating another piece of content isn’t necessarily the answer to an author’s marketing problem. The bigger questions center around who should I reach, what should I say, what should I do next, and how does this fit into my overall campaign? That’s where we think AI can become much more useful to authors.”

Building the Author Marketing OS

The need for an Author Marketing OS comes from a simple reality of today’s publishing environment: authors are increasingly responsible for marketing their own books.

At the same time, the number of tools available to them continues to grow.

Storiad believes the answer is not another standalone marketing tool.

It is a system.

“The ultimate goal is pretty simple,” said Hajj. “We want to help authors take control of their book marketing and sell more books.”

Storiad is making its Author Marketing OS available to authors through its software platform.

For more information, visit www.storiad.com.

About Storiad

Storiad is the first Author Marketing Operating System, designed to help published authors plan, execute and manage their entire book marketing lifecycle in one place. The platform combines marketing strategy, structured workflows, AI-powered assistance, CRM-style contact management, research, outreach and campaign execution.

Storiad’s mission is simple: help authors sell more books.

Media Contact
Ramzi S. Hajj
Founder & CEO, Storiad, Inc.
ramzi@storiad.com
626.676.4142

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/storiad-introduces-the-author-marketing-os-302869647.html

SOURCE Storiad, Inc.