Beijing: Baidu Inc, which operates China’s most popular internet search engine, said Thursday its quarterly profit rose 16 per cent but growth slowed as it spent more to attract users to its mobile services. The Beijing-based company earned 3.2 billion yuan (Dh1.9 billion, $520.4 million) in the three months ending December 31. Revenue rose 47.5 per cent to 14 billion yuan ($2.3 billion). Profit growth declined from the previous quarter’s 27 per cent as spending on promoting mobile services soared by 89.2 per cent over a year earlier. Chinese internet companies are spending heavily to attract users as they shift quickly to going online with smartphones and other wireless devices.