Baidu (BIDU), a search engine company based in China, has bought a stake in ride-service Uber.

Baidu hasn’t said how much of a stake it bought in Uber, but it’s estimated that it could have been as much as $600 million. The two companies will be working together to expand Uber’s presence in China beyond the nine cities it’s currently available in, reports Time.

Uber will use Baidu’s mapping services for its app in China. In other parts of the world, it uses Google (GOOG) Maps, but that app is banned in the country. According to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, the company has been doing well in China and hasn’t run into much in the way of regulatory issues, Time notes.

Baidu’s involvement with Uber and desire to expand its reach in the country is a welcome change for the service that has run into trouble in other areas of the world. Following an alleged rape by one of its drivers, the service was banned in India. It’s also banned in Spain and Thailand.

BIDU shares were up slightly as of Wednesday afternoon.

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