Chinese internet search giant Baidu has invested up to $600 million into taxi application Uber.

The investment is aimed at giving Uber much needed local market knowledge and technical resources in a market which presents major entry challenges to any foreign companies, regardless of the business sector.

Uber, an application which allows people to book and pay for taxi services in non-cash transactions, faces an additional challenge in China: credit card use is largely limited to expatriates and the Chinese elite, although starting to spread, leaving various local payment gateways as intermediaries.

Uber is entering 14 Chinese cities, as it continues its global expansion from its California base.

Hong Kong analyst Li Yujie of RHB Research told Bloomberg News that Uber needs a local player like Baidu which really understands the Chinese market.

“Baidu is trying to promote its mobile payment system, Uber would help it gain more traffic and boost its location-based services.”