The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has approved Baidu's request to participate in the construction of several national engineering laboratories. Also on the approved list are Alibaba, Tencent and 18 other companies, according to industry insider site Leiphone.com.

Baidu, the search engine giant, will be in charge of establishing a lab for the research and application of deep learning. The laboratory will focus on deep learning technology, computer vision perception, computer auditory abilities, biometric identification, human-computer interaction, standardized services and deep learning intellectual property.

Lin Yuanqing, head of Baidu's Institute of Deep Learning, will join the laboratory team, along Xu Wei, a senior Baidu expert, and professors in related fields from a variety of top universities.

In a bid to attract talent to participate in the research, Baidu will share its computations, algorithms and big data, three resources that help to make the company a world leader in deep learning, reports say.

China had 167 national engineering laboratories by September of last year. National engineering is an important part of the national scientific and technological innovation system under the NDRC.