May 20, 2009, 11:12 AM — Yahoo has built a global research and development base in Beijing that it will formally announce next month, the company said Wednesday.
The base will develop products for Yahoo globally and be independent from Alibaba Group, which controls Yahoo's operations in China, a Yahoo spokeswoman said in an e-mail. Yahoo holds a 40 percent stake in Alibaba.
Yahoo built the base partly to attract new technological talent, the spokeswoman said, though Yahoo did not say how many staff it will employ or what proportion will be Chinese.
Alibaba approved the Yahoo center, which will have no operational role for Yahoo's properties in the country, a source at Alibaba said.
Six research bases are currently listed worldwide on the Web page of Yahoo Research. Those bases research technologies in areas including search, machine learning and advertising.
The new base will be announced at an event in Beijing on June 9, another Yahoo representative said.
