Baidu Search API for the Chinese web
Search Baidu over HTTP and receive Chinese-language web results, including Baidu Baike entries and state media coverage that a global index ranks differently or not at all.
Endpoint
Results arrive in the same JSON shape as every other engine, so existing parsing continues to work.
Results point at Chinese-language sites, including baike.baidu.com.
The snippet is the page description as Baidu renders it.
Ordering reflects what Baidu surfaces, not a global index.
Useful for
China research / Policy tracking / Localisation
The ranking that Chinese users actually see
Set `search_service` to `baidu` and the results come from Baidu. The endpoint, the authentication, and the response shape are the same as every other engine.
Baidu Baike for definitions
Definitional queries surface Baidu Baike entries, which are the reference layer most Chinese-language readers land on.
Policy and state media coverage
Regulatory and policy queries surface gov.cn and state media, which a global index often ranks far lower.
A ranking, not a translation
This is what Baidu returns for a Chinese query, which is a different answer from translating the query and searching a global index.
Standard Search parameters
`max_results` up to 50, plus `include_sites`, `exclude_sites`, and `time_range`.
What is a Baidu search API?
A Baidu search API is an HTTP interface that returns Baidu web results as structured data. Baidu is the dominant search engine in mainland China, so its ranking is what Chinese-language users actually see, and that ordering differs substantially from a global index for the same topic. Search1API exposes Baidu as one of the search services on its Search endpoint, returning titles, links, and Chinese-language snippets in the same JSON shape it returns for its other engines. For anything researching the Chinese market — regulation, consumer sentiment, local competitors — querying Baidu directly is different work from translating a query and searching Google.
Typical workflow
Search Baidu over HTTP and receive Chinese-language web results, including Baidu Baike entries and state media coverage that a global index ranks differently or not at all.
Send a Chinese-language query with `search_service` set to `baidu`.
Read titles, links, and snippets in the same shape as any other engine.
Set `crawl_results` when the workflow needs page text rather than links.
One request, the Chinese-market result set
A single call searches Baidu and returns Chinese-language results in the standard shape, so the Chinese web can be queried through the same code path as the rest.
bash
Best for
Market research on Chinese competitors, pricing, and consumer sentiment.
Regulatory and policy tracking where the primary sources are Chinese.
Localisation work that needs to see the local result set.
AI assistants answering questions about mainland China.
FAQ
Is there an official Baidu search API?
Baidu’s developer offerings are oriented around its cloud and AI platform rather than a simple per-request web search endpoint for third parties. Search1API covers that case by offering Baidu as one of the engines on its Search endpoint, billed per request.
Should I query in Chinese or English?
Chinese. The index is Chinese-language, and a Chinese query is what produces the ranking a local user would see. English queries return thinner results.
Can I get the page content as well?
Yes. Set `crawl_results` to the number of top results you want fetched, and each page retrieved successfully includes a `content` field with the page text as markdown. Results that cannot be retrieved are returned without `content` and are not charged.
What does a Baidu search cost?
One credit per search, and one additional credit for each page retrieved successfully through `crawl_results`. At the base top-up rate of $1 for 1,000 credits, that is $1 per 1,000 searches. Signup includes 100 free credits with no credit card.
How does this differ from searching Google in Chinese?
Substantially. Google’s index of the Chinese web is partial, and its ranking is not what a mainland user sees. Baidu Baike entries, state media, and local vertical sites rank very differently between the two.
Which other Chinese engines are supported?
The same Search endpoint accepts `360` and `quark` for the Chinese web, `wechat` for Official Account articles, and `bilibili` for video, alongside global engines, for 17 engines in total on one contract.