Baidu: Stock may extend drop after Wang's death

Baidu.com Inc., owner of China's most-popular Internet search site, says the company's shares may fall in the "short term" after the death of former chief financial officer Shawn Wang "in an accident in China", because of uncertainty about his replacement.

"Under Shawn, we have built up a mature and transparent finance system," Sun Yao, Baidu spokeswoman, said in Beijing in a phone interview. "The market will show a negative reaction over the short term, but not in the long term."

Baidu shares have fallen 4.7 percent in the two trading days since the death was announced, after rising for seven straight days.