SOHU.com has pioneered mobile Internet in the Chinese market in a strategic alliance with Nokia, the market leader in mobile phones and telecommunications equipment in China. The two companies have joined hands with the two biggest mobile phone operators, China Mobile Communications Corporation and China Unicom, to offer mobile Internet through their regional subsidiaries to end-users in the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world.

Regional mobile operators are crucial in winning market share in China's promising market for mobile Internet services, because they provide the infrastructure for making the Wireless Applications Protocol (WAP) services and Internet content available to consumers.

"By establishing partnerships with telecom mobile operators in all the important provinces, SOHU.com is able to deliver its WAP enabled contents to a much larger audience. Following our successful launch in Beijing, mobile phone users in Guangdong, Fujian, Jilin and other provinces will be able to have the fun of sending and receiving e-mail, looking up stock quotes over their cell phone, anywhere, anytime", said Charles Zhang, CEO and President of SOHU.com.

In April the two companies introduced mobile Internet in China in cooperation with the Beijing Mobile Communications Corporation (BMCC). "Working with SOHU.com and Nokia we have successfully opened up a new world of wireless Internet service to the Chinese consumers. I believe our cooperation will further accelerate the development of WAP services in the Chinese market", commented BMCC Vice-General-Manager Zhao Jinxiang.

SOHU.com and Nokia have gained an important headstart in spreading out their services so widely over the Chinese mainland. "Early market entry means advantage in knowledge about the market and what it is specifically that Chinese end-users use their mobile phones for", said Nokia Senior Marketing Manager Esko Kippo.

China's mobile phone market has recorded a stunning growth rate that is expected to last for several more years. Last year the number of mobile phone users grew to 43 million. This year it is expected to soar to 70 million. And this number is expected to rise to 170 million by 2003, a four-fold increase over 1999.

About SOHU.com
SOHU.com is the leading Internet portal in Mainland China with current daily page views exceeding 12 million. It provides navigation/search, news, sports, business and finance, real estate channel, entertainment, chat, email and e-commerce activities for a solid and wide base of visitors. Dr. Charles Zhang founded SOHU.com in 1997. Its investors include Intel, Dow Jones, IDG, the Morningside China Group, PCCW, Legend and Hikari. Its content partners include CNET, DOW Jones and dozens of local media organizations in China.

For further information:
Dahlia Wei
SOHU Investor Relations and Communications
Tel: +86 10 6272 6598
E-mail: ir@sohu-inc.com
http://www.sohu.com/about/English/